The End of Freedom: Exile
by lalulweeb914
Summary: Sequel to End of Freedom. After being exiled from the Seireitei and stripped of his rank, his squad, and his honor, Toshiro Hitsugaya's troubles are far from an end. Aizen lurks in the shadows, watching, and waiting for a chance for revenge.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay... writing again after so long feels really really weird. I can't get over it... I am actually writing the sequel... It's so exciting! **

**No then, to my dear and wonderful readers, I hope your summer has been going well. Mine has... mostly... I don't want to go back to school though... the retarded uniform is making us wear tights. I HATE TIGHTS! … okay back to the topic... ummmm.. if you've been looking forward to this sequel, NOW IS THE TIME!** (I'm scared too) **and my very own OC makes an appearance for... well.. a little less than the first half of the story... plz don't hate him as much as I do...**

**Here I go... ENJOY!**

The sound of footsteps falling on dried and broken leaves echoed between the tall trees, breaking the solemn silence. Panting for the remnants of his breath, the small, silver haired boy advanced in a run, heading for some destination that, for some reason, he didn't know. The boy had no idea why, but he felt that he needed to be there. And so he ran, the long zanpaktou across his back bouncing with every stride.

While his destination was unknown, a sudden fear rose in the boy's chest as he approached a cluster of bushes. Sliding to a stop, his eye's wide, he tried to consider his situation. Even as he thought, however, it was almost as if the fear and curiosity impelled him to look past the bushes, and if he didn't obey, then... The boy's train of thought didn't reach beyond that point. Before even making up his mind, he found himself pushing away the leaves, and stepping through, into the forest's clearing.

The scene that met the boy's eyes caused the breath to gag in his throat, and the stench of it all wrinkled his nose. He stared, eyes wide, at the corpses below his feet, and of the blood that stained the ground all around him.

He took a step forward, even though he told himself to back away. The world spun before his eyes, blending into a nightmare of crimson red, the color he found himself staring at more often than not. The boy, breath unsteady, did all he could to calm himself. He had been in situations like this before, and he should know how to handle it.

Securing his state of mind, the small boy examined the area, searching for signs of life. With a start, he caught sight of a small movement by the edge of a tree. His heart beating faster, he stepped towards it, until the thing he was looking for took the form of a small child.

The boy regretted his reaction almost immediately after he set eyes on the little girl's face. Her hair was messed, and the huge, dark brown eyes stared at him emptily. Blood ran down her face, staining the innocence of her youth, and destroying her very life.

"How did this happen?" The boy's voice came in a hoarse whisper, a whisper he hardly even meant to utter.

Her gaze turning into a glare, the little girl's expression darkened as she responded, her voice not audible, but so empty and ominous that it resounded as a whisper inside the boy's head.

_Don't you remember?_

The little girl's eyes narrowed into an accusing glower.

_You did this._

The boy's eyes widened. Finally able to back away, he stood stepping back until he was in the middle of the clearing. Without even realizing it, he shook his head, trying to deny the little girl's accusation. But his fingers shook ceaselessly, and soon his entire body trembled as he dared to lower his gaze to his body.

His zanpaktou was held tightly in his hand, though he couldn't remember unsheathing it, and blood stained its silvery surface, running down the blade and even reaching the handle, where the crimson substance covered his fingers and hand. It wasn't long before the boy felt the thick liquid weighing down his clothing and dampening his skin, and he didn't need to look any further to know what it was.

_You did this._

The zanpaktou fell from the boy's hand as he shook. As it struck the ground, the boy followed it, falling to his knees and clutching his head, trying to shake away the scene.

_You had a choice..._

Shaking his head, the boy continued to deny it.

_And this was the choice you made._

_This could've been prevented, but you made your decision. You were selfish._

The boy's teal eyes tightened with the emotion he found himself unable to hide as he whispered a hoarse apology, his heart breaking with every word the entity spoke.

"But you don't regret it, do you?"

With a sharp intake of breath, the boy looked up at the familiar voice, and his eyes widened further. The forest and corpses were gone, leaving only blackness. Blackness, and a man.

The man whose brown eyes perfectly matched his brown hair, the man who was responsible for tearing apart the boy's heart, stood above him, staring down with the same superiority as ever.

"If given the choice once again, you choose the same thing, wouldn't you?"

The boy stared, wide eyed, even as he was completely speechless.

"You would. You know you would.

"Murderer."

* * *

Toshiro Hitsugaya awoke with a start, his dream coming to an abrupt end. While his consciousness slowly found its way into clarity, the final word that had been uttered in his dream echoed on.

_Murderer._

The boy sat up slowly, and placed a hand on the zanpaktou that laid by his side, simply for the comfort of holding the purple sheath, and feeling the weight of his precious blade in his hands.

_Master? What's wrong?_

The boy laid on his back once more, staring up at the trees that shaded him from the rising sun.

_It's...it's nothing._

As the two fell into silence, Hyourinmaru knowing Toshiro wouldn't want to talk about it, the boy gazed around at the forest that had, over the past month, become his home. It felt odd, to say the least, to suddenly be unable to live in any built shelter, and the fact that he spent the long nights on the cold, hard ground felt exceedingly strange to the ex-captain who was used to the comfort of a proper bed in the Seireitei. Living as an outcast was not something Toshiro was very suited for.

The boy placed his hands beneath his head and tried to relax. As the wind picked up a bit, a few leaves scattered through the air, and Toshiro closed his eyes, still too tired to force himself out of the makeshift bed he had made with some blankets and a pillows provided to him by Ukitake.

His mind much to unsettled to relax, Toshiro only tried to block everything out, and hope to fall back into a sleep, this time without any dreams.

"Good mornin'!"

Toshiro's eyes shot open and the boy nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice that came from directly in front of him. Unable to hold back a short gag of shock, Toshiro found himself face-to-face with a wide smile and two squinted eyes.

For some reason the boy couldn't fathom, people always found the need to wake him up by putting their face right in front of his. It was a regular habit of Momo's, and Rangiku even did it when they first met. But opening your eyes to see the creepy smile of Gin Ichimaru was something completely different.

The boy gave a small spasm of surprise and bolted upright, missing Gin by an inch as the older soul reaper dodged easily.

"Wha... when...?" Toshiro stuttered incoherently as he struggled to regain calmness.

A small snort of laughter interrupted the boy, and he turned to see Ichigo, walking in from the side of clearing, smirking obnoxiously.

"You... you guys..." The boy's initial shock was quickly turning into anger, and he could almost feel the stress mark on his forehead.

"Sorry, Toshiro... but the expression on your face was pretty worth it." Came Ichigo's response.

The boy gave a huff and let it slide. While he was irritated that he had been so rudely awoken, the boy was still only wearing his shitagi, and he stood, gathering the rest of his robes and walking away from his visitors.

"Hey, where 'ya going?" Gin asked, continuing to uphold his creepy behavior.

Toshiro turned and gave the man a look of fury. "I'm getting changed, you idiot! You could've waiting until I was actually up before you came sneaking up on me!" With that, the boy left the clearing, heading for the nearby river, leaving the two soul reapers to exchange dubious expressions.

* * *

When Toshiro was finally back in his shihakusho, he leaned forward to the crystal clear water, scooping a fair amount into his hand. With a sigh, he splashed the water into his face, the chilly liquid most welcome to the boy.

Giving another heavy breath, Toshiro considered Ichigo's appearance. The teenager had only come to the soul society once over the past month, and had subsequently continued to annoy Toshiro for the remainder of the day.

With a low groan, he picked himself up and headed back towards where he knew Gin and Ichigo were waiting for him, knowing all too well what Ichigo would spend the next several hours bugging him about.

* * *

In a small village not too far off, a young soul reaper slowly took a seat on a small bed inside the building that he once called home. His deep blue eyes, hidden behind thick locks of wavy brown hair as his head bent down, narrowed slightly as he tightened his grip on a small hairpin in his hand.

"Akite?" The teenager looked up at the sound of his name, and his eyes came to find the face of the village elder, the man's expression sympathetic. "I heard you had woken up... Are you sure you're well enough to be over here?"

Akite's eyes fell downcast. He stared solemnly at the ground below him, and ignored the elder's question.

"..."

The elder stared at the silent teen, until his curiosity was settled when the boy uttered a few quiet words.

"It really happened, didn't it? I thought it was a dream... I wish it was a dream."

Seeing where the conversation would lead, the elder gave a slow nod and sat by the teenager's side.

"You've been in a coma for month and a half... when we first found you, your condition was critical, and Kana was already..."

Akite gripped the hairpin in his hand, his expression turning into anger. "But that soul reaper... I know I've seen him before!" The teenager struggled for memory as his head pounded, "I just... I don't remember..."

"Toshiro Hitsugaya."

Both Akite and the elder looked up at the new voice. A rather muscular man, several years older than Akite by appearance, entered the small bedroom. While the young man was no soul reaper, he was extremely burly, and the scars he had across his body only proved his rough nature. He wore a loose shirt that revealed plenty of his tanned chest, and baggy pants that were bunched into a pair of leather boots. A large scar that stretched in a line from cheek, onto the bridge of his nose, and to his forehead in a diagonal wrinkled in disgust as though the very name he spoke was spiteful.

"It was Toshiro Hitsugaya. He used to be the captain of squad ten." The man, by the name of Domoji, spoke brutally and continued his revelation, his eyes fixed on Akite. "He's the one who killed Kana."

**I hope you all realize this chapter literally took me all day to write... I started at 11 and im done at 6... that majorly sucks, but it's the first chapter, and I put A LOT of effort into it. The dream part was not very easy. Trust me. **

**Anyway, when it comes to Akite and Domoji, there (obviously) will be more development on their pasts and their intentions... those two and the elder are really the only OCs that really do anything important. **

**Surprisingly, I really really don't like Akite, but I like Domoji.. which is weird, because Domoji is the kind of all brawn and no brains guy and I usually don't like that... it's strange... but for you readers... you've just been introduced to them so I suppose it's too soon for you to make any judgments. But if you want me to, I'll draw a picture of them so you get a better idea of their description...**

**I must depart! (that sounded weird), so I am begging you, plz review me! I really despise the beginning of this story (ohhhh but the ending is so eppiicccccc) so plz support me! PLEASE?**

Shitagi- The white undergarment Soul Reapers wear when they go to sleep

Shihakusho- Soul Reaper uniform


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday like I should've, I totally forgot... it wasn't until 7:30 that I head palmed and went "CRAP! Today's Monday!" I felt really stupid... But here's the update now, enjoy!**

**I wanna taco really really badly...**

"Toshiro... Hitsugaya?" Akite mumbled, his eyes still cast upwards at the looming figure of Domoji.

The broad shouldered man took another few steps forward, crossing his arms across his chest with a distasteful look on his face. "Yeah, he's massacred several villages, and killed many, including your friend."

Akite's gaze fell, unsure. His memories were hazy, and his own mind barely offered any comfort as a headache pounded inside of him.

"I'm telling you, it was him." Domoji said, his voice becoming earnest. "Don't you remember anything?"

Akite tightened his eyes, the man's loud voice only causing him further discomfort. While he wanted to confirm who had tried to kill him, and had successfully killed Kana, he didn't want to remember that night. Gripping his head in his hands, he leaned forward, interlacing locks of his own hair between his fingers as he pressed for a memory of his attacker's face.

There was blood... so much blood...

"Akite!"

The teenager's eyes snapped wider, and he found himself gazing into the eyes of the village elder.

Standing, the elder turned to their guest, his voice suddenly stern. "Domoji! You should know better than to push him like that! He's still going through trauma, do you really want to force this on him?"

Domoji didn't even blink as the elder spoke, his eyes only narrowed in pent up rage.

"Of course I do. Hitsugaya has killed so many people, and while there have been a few sightings, and rumors, nobody has ever lived through one of his attacks. Nobody... except for you, Akite."

Looking up, Akite found himself glaring at the other man, resiliently keeping his mouth shut.

Domoji, trying very hard to keep calm, clenched his teeth and continued, anger and spite clearly taking him over.

"Did you know they caught him, Akite?" Domoji trembled in rage as Akite eyes grew somewhat wider. "Did you know the damn Seireitei could've ended it, then and there? But after everything that bastard has done, THOSE DAMN CAPTAINS DIDN'T EXECUTE HIM!"

The look across Akite's face was impossible to read between the mixture of confusion, anger, sadness, and exhaustion.

"They... they didn't...?"

Domoji's stirred up rage was ever present across his face, though his voice calmed considerably when next he spoke. "They didn't execute him, no... they exiled Hitsugaya from the Seireitei, they sent him back out here, back near the very people he's made suffer!"

"Enough, Domoji! You know there more to it than that!"

Interrupted once again by the elder, Domoji fell silent, this time his rant being completed.

Akite, quiet, but confused, turned from Domoji to the elder.

"There was a long amount of time during which the Seireitei deliberated on Hitsugaya's sentence, and when they released their decision, they also gave the souls of the soul society some information on the circumstances..."

From his spot in the corner of the room, Domoji grunted audibly.

Ignoring the younger man's disagreement, the elder continued to speak. "The information they released is that Hitsugaya's actions where forcefully placed upon him, and that he was left with no choice but to do as he did."

"But we all know that's just the Seireitei trying to cover up for one of their high ranked officers! They gave no further details, and they refuse to speak of anything more than they already have! Hitsugaya was, no _is, _crazy. And a murderer. The Seireitei doesn't want to admit that one of their captains turned into that, so they made up that crap!"

Akite frowned, unknowing of what to believe. His headache was only getting worse, and he could feel beads of sweat on his face. The entire room suddenly felt very hot, and the teenager tried only to breathe properly as the room seemed to sway.

His state of health, as well as the new information that was suddenly forced upon him, made the teenager barely coherent.

"Domoji, please, leave now. You've done enough to make Akite's day worse. Go." The elder commanded with an air of finality as he held Akite's shoulder comfortingly.

With a small grunt, Domoji began to walk out of the room, turning only as he reached the doorway to speak to Akite.

"I won't let Hitsugaya kill more innocent people. Nobody will. Apparently a few people have seen evidence that someone is hiding out in the forest not too far from here. A few other men and I are going to hunt down Hitsugaya tomorrow... it's your choice if you want to sit there and feel sorry for yourself, or to go out and save people from losing more friends and family than they already have."

The glare Domoji received from Akite was unreadable. The man couldn't tell if it was directed at him, or if was thoughts of Hitsugaya that brought it on.

Domoji hoped it was the latter.

* * *

"Oi, Toshiro, if you keep ignoring us like that, I'm gonna get mad."

The young soul reaper turned to Ichigo, his face incredulous. "You weren't saying anything interesting, so why should I listen?"

As Gin stifled an obnoxious grin, Ichigo's eyebrow twitched. "Nothing interesting? Toshiro!"

Folding up a blanket, Toshiro barely gave the substitute soul reaper a glance as he stood, carrying the dirty sheet back towards the river in which he had just been.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo repeated, walking after the boy in a huff.

"Why are you guys even here? Because if it's just to bug me, I'd rather you leave." Came the comment from Toshiro as he dunked the blanket into the cool water.

If anything, the boy only infuriated Ichigo further. "Well we figured we should be visiting every so often! Sorry for trying to be considerate!"

Toshiro completely ignored the teen and looked over at Ichimaru, who had just emerged from the bushes.

Gin gave his customary smile and held up a small white cloth bag. "I'm supposed to be giving ya this, but we just wanted to check up on ya too,"

Toshiro took the bag with a small thanks, and opened it enough to peek inside.

"Rangiku made you some buns, she said she would give them to you herself but I'm afraid she and Hinamori were very busy today."

The boy's face went a little white. "Rangiku made them...?"

Ichimaru's smile widened. "Don't worry, Hinamori kept an eye on her so she didn't put anything... odd in them."

Toshiro nodded slowly, but still nibbled on the edge of one before fully trusting his ex-subordinates cooking. Once he determined that the bread wasn't very strange, he re-wrapped the bag.

"Tell her thanks for me. I appreciate it." Toshiro said politely.

Gin nodded. "I'm sorry, but this is as long as I can stay. There's a meeting soon and I can't miss it."

With a nod, Toshiro repeated his thanks and Gin smile faded momentarily as he gazed at the small boy.

"Is there..." Gin voice fell to a whisper just loud enough for the boy to hear. "Is there any sign of him?"

The question caught Toshiro off guard. His face twisted into an odd expression as he looked for an answer.

"N...No." Toshiro finally replied.

His eyes searching Hitsugaya's, Gin leaned back slowly, staring at Toshiro oddly. Without another word, he gave a nod and vanished, shunpoing back towards the Seireitei.

Ichigo stared curiously at the boy as he walked back towards the blanket he was washing. Completely silent, Toshiro took it from the stream, holding up the dripping wet blanket, and laid it down on a rock, his expression cold.

"My offer still stands, you know."

At Ichigo's words, Toshiro paused, dropping the bag of fresh buns he was tying.

Seconds of silence ticked by, and the boy turned a little to look at Ichigo.

"My answer is still the same," He replied at last. "No."

"Toshiro... I can tell you're miserable here, and so can everyone else. You might have plenty of practice at acting like a block of ice, but we're not stupid."

The boy scowled deeply, irritated already by Gin's question, and now being pestered by Ichigo over something he would never let himself do.

"I'm not miserable. It's fine. Momo and Rangiku visit every couple of days, and I'm not always busy with paperwork. It's not that bad."

"Bullshit"

His eyes widening, Toshiro protested loudly, enraged by Ichigo's calm yet correct responses. "I'm not...! Look, I already explained this to you, I'm not going to go with you the real world."

Ichigo gave the boy a glare. "It would be more comfortable than living in a forest."

"Along with having hundreds of innocent lives murdered when Aizen follows me there!"

"So then you lied to Ichimaru, too."

Toshiro stopped short.

With a heavy sigh, Ichigo continued. "You're so convinced that if you go to the real world, Aizen's going to follow you, so he must be following you right now."

The boy stared at Ichigo, his expression once more becoming insecurity.

"So then, Toshiro, how many times has he shown up?"

**Finally... end... of … chapter... I still wanna taco...**

**Thanks to all ye wonderful reviewers, I liked the nice stack given to me on the first chapter...**

**How do you like the beginning so far?... At first I used a surprising amount of language in it, but then I decided to tone it down a little, although I couldn't help having Ichigo say bullshit like that... For some reason I kept thinking about that when I wrote this chapter.. strange..**

**HIYA TWIN! I was wondering when you were gonna notice I updated...**

**Well, I'm off! I wanna see if I can improvise and have a taco for lunch. I really want one... please review me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry about my whacked out updates, this summer is very …. strange...**

**A certain little kitten I know named Romeo died yesterday, I feel really bad about it, he strangled himself on these cords hanging from a bed... it's really really sad...**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWIN! I don't know why I'm updating on your birthday (my dog just farted, ew) but I'm gonna have fun with it...**

**Enjoy the chapter! Now my dog is licking my computer... "tastes like metal!" he sayz... I luv my doggy...**

Toshiro's eyes fell to the ground, as if examining the pebbles would help him avoid Ichigo's question. With his head still groggy and his heart beating a little too fast for his comfort, the boy quickly turned away, kneeling to pick up the bag he had just dropped.

"Toshi-!"

"I haven't seen him." The boy interrupted, his eyes still downcast.

Ichigo balked, his expression disbelief, "Toshiro, I know that you-"

"I'm telling the truth!"

As he spoke, everything seemed to fall silent, Ichigo included. The teen stared at the younger, only further confused.

Noticing the bemused expression on Ichigo's face, the boy continued quietly, using ever ounce of his effort to keep his voice level.

"I... I haven't ever seen him, but..." The rocks and small patches of grass around him seemed to sway as Toshiro spoke, and he dreaded his very words and hated Ichigo for making him admit them. "Sometimes, I can feel his spiritual pressure... but it's only there for a second. I don't know if... it might just be my imagination..."

Ichigo's expression darkened in understanding as the boy finished. As Toshiro stood, taking the bag in his hand to set next to the other provisions he had, the Substitute Shinigami's eyes followed him, concerned, but he kept his mouth shut from the additional conclusion he had reached concerning the boy's state of mind.

He knew Toshiro was afraid of Aizen. No matter how hard the boy tried so seem cold and impassive, and while the boy was very good at it, Toshiro's uneasiness could be explained in no other way. Of course, that fear was far from unjustified. After what had happened to him by the hands of Aizen, Ichigo was surprised the boy was still this talented and hiding away his fear.

Nevertheless, Ichigo didn't want to push the boy further than he already had. He knew Toshiro wasn't quite ready to face his emotions anytime soon, and Ichigo couldn't blame him.

Over the next few hours, the teenager abruptly ended pestering the boy about such matters. He easily idled away the rest of the day making light, and completely pointless, conversation with Toshiro, despite the boy constantly insisting he just "shut up and go away". While Ichigo had no intention of causing Toshiro further pain by annoying him, he also knew the last thing the boy wanted was to be alone again. Ever since the entire incident with Aizen, Ichigo had become fully determined to keep a close eye on the small shinigami.

In the short amount of time he had come to know Toshiro, Ichigo considered him as a good friend, and refused to stand by when he knew the boy was suffering.

* * *

Staring at the golden hairpin, embellished with small, red cherries, Akite laid down across the bed he used to spend every night in. When he was younger, he shared the building with five foster siblings, and the bedroom he now laid in was packed with the same number of beds. However, the relationship between all the siblings was barely existent. They didn't fight, but nobody was very close, and, when the eldest decided to either leave for somewhere else or join the soul reaper academy, connections were severed almost alcompletely.

It was different between he and Kana, though. For as long as he could remember, they were as close as real siblings, and rarely fought at all. Eventually, all of their other siblings had left to follow their own paths, and it was just Akite and Kana in the small building.

As much as Akite enjoyed the time he spent with her, eventually he need to leave her as well. He found his calling in the soul reaper academy, and spent several years there, visiting his friend every break.

Not too long ago, however, right after he had graduated and was on his way home for another visit, instead of being met with her small smile, he found himself by her dead body, the hairpin she always wore fallen from her dark brown ponytail, and her murderer still standing above her.

The boy had silver hair. That was the first thing that had struck Akite. It was beautiful, and his teal eyes complemented it perfectly. Those teal eyes. No, they didn't complement him. They were empty. They were so deep and yet so completely emotionless, Akite could barely believe the child standing before him was human and not some puppet.

But before he had time to make any further judgments, in the midst of his confusion, horror, and wonderment, that very puppet he wondered about slid a sword into his stomach, scraping across vital organs and threatening the teenager's life.

The boy must've thought he was dead, because, a month and a half later, Akite found himself waking up in a hospital bedroom, heavily bandaged and disoriented beyond his imagination.

Now, though, as he laid across the bed, holding his dear friend's hairpin tightly, Akite found himself thinking only on the words Domoji had given him before walking out the door in a huff.

"_A few other men and I are going to hunt down Hitsugaya tomorrow... it's your choice if you want to sit there and feel sorry for yourself, or to go out and save people from losing more friends and family than they already have."_

The teen's bewilderment grew. He grieved for Kana, and more than anything he felt hatred for her killer, but still... There was something, something about the look in that boy's eyes that made the boy reconsider.

* * *

"Izuru? What's going on?" Hisagi stared at his blond haired friend curiously. The lieutenant had just stepped into the room, looking like he was holding something important.

"We have some orders from the Head Captain..." He walked over and placed a small stack of papers on the desk that Hisagi was sitting at. "We're supposed to team up and check up on things in the Rukongai. The captains are uneasy that the people there may start a riot because of everything that's happened with Hitsugaya."

Hisagi's eye twitched at the sound of the ex-captain's name, and it didn't go unnoticed by Kira.

"Do you still..."

"I suppose we should head out tomorrow then. I've got some work that still needs to be done now. Thanks, Izuru." Hisagi interrupted, clearly avoiding the subject.

Recognizing his friend's request for him to leave, Izuru gave up on asking about Hitsugaya, exiting the room with one final glance at his friend.

**MY TUMMY HURTS! Sorry it was short, (and probably boring) but next chapter things should get more... exciting.**

**I don't have the energy to write a long Author's Note, so please, PLEASE, just review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, and welcome into the world of another chapter of my story! **

**I would write a long author's note, but I'm short on time.. ART CALLS! (very loudly)**

Akite fumbled with the edge of the hairpin deftly, once more lost in his own thoughts. As he stared at the fading light from the window of the hospital bedroom. While the room turned a bluish hue as the moon appeared, the teenage soul reaper stared out at the sky, his zanpaktou in hand.

Caressing the cloth across the handle softly, he sighed, wondering once again what he should do.

The voices of a few men brought Akite into reality. They were urging each other on quietly, and their footsteps fell across the dirt, patting the ground as they rushed out to meet somewhere.

Akite didn't have to question where they were going. A day had passed since his discussion with Domoji, and he knew the search party had been formed. While the villagers wanted to protect their families, there was no doubt of the lust for revenge in their eyes, and the burning hatred that sent their hearts ablaze this night.

As their voice died away, Akite wondered why he felt so calm. Why didn't the same hatred that they felt for Hitsugaya flow through him?

Or did it? He thought. Didn't he care for Kana more than anything? Wasn't he angry at Hitsugaya? The teen couldn't tell. His own emotions were so strangely twisted, he couldn't understand himself at all.

* * *

"Domoji, how long are we going to wait for him?" A tall man asked, glaring at his strongly built leader.

Heaving a sigh, Domoji gave a gruff reply. "Just a little bit longer."

The man growled impatiently. "It's getting late, though. We should leave."

Domoji didn't answer, and the man gave a grunt of annoyance. After a moment, the man left, going back to the group as Domoji stared at the village, his eyebrows knitted together.

Domoji rubbed his hands together irritatedly. Having expected Akite to join them, the man was left somewhat disappointed as he heard the impatient whispers of the men behind him. While Domoji was neither compassionate nor understanding, he wanted every person who had suffered at the hands of Hitsugaya to be able to find their justice.

The man couldn't understand if Akite didn't want to go, so, finally turning to go back to the group, he decided the teen must be too unhealthy to go.

Footsteps from not too far off brought Domoji around again. Turning, he saw the very person he had been waiting for, advancing towards him at a diligent pace.

"I'm coming with you." Akite said, his hand on his zanpaktou at his side.

Domoji managed to crack a smile. With a nod, he beckoned the teen forward, and he joined the group.

"We're leaving now, men."

The group of about ten men gave a low note of approval. Each one carried either a torch or some form of weapon, and all had the identical look of determination.

As they all turned to go into the forest behind them, Akite frown was firmly set. He hadn't quite made a decision on what to think about Hitsugaya, but he needed to find out why he felt so unpredictably sensitive towards his attacker. Why was it that the boy looked so sad? Is that just the behavior of a murderer? Or was it something else?

* * *

From high up on a tree, a silvery haired boy watched the scene unfolding before him. His eyebrows knitted together, he gazed down at the villagers as they entered the forest, carrying torches and trying unsuccessfully to be silent.

Among them, Toshiro realized, there was one soul reaper. His eyes narrowing, he moved to the next tree, keeping the group within his sight for their own safety.

_You knew this would happen, didn't you? Why would let yourself be careless enough to let them know where you're staying?_

The boy gave a small sigh at the sound of his zanpaktou's chiding, but remained silent.

_Master... you don't have to watch them, you know... I can tell it's not something you want to be doing._

"_If a hollow attacks them,they're done for"._ The boy finally responded

Inside his soul, Hyourinmaru heaved a sigh. _Master, you know as well as I do that this is the Soul Society. Hollows can't attack here._

"_But there's still Aizen here"_ Toshiro mumbled.

Hyourinmaru paused. As the boy fell silent, Hyourinmaru could only cave into a silence as well, knowing full well the kind of mood his master was falling into. He could tell the boy was reenforcing the barriers he held against himself even as the two spoke.

Ichigo, having left the night before, had sent the boy into a rather brooding mood, and he was more stubborn and silent then ever. There was nothing the boy despised more then being treated like a child, and Ichigo's concern for the boy's state of mind intensified Toshiro's annoyance at the Substitute Shinigami.

_But master, you were acting like a child._

Giving a small start, the boy rebuked angrily. "_He should just mind his own business! I don't need him constantly bugging me about something he's not involved in at all!"_

_And you saying things like that is exactly what is childish. You try so hard to act mature even though you know you're falling apart. Kurosaki's only trying to help you deal with yourself._

"_I'm not that weak. I don't need his help. Anyway, I'm sure he's got his own work to do, he should just mind his own business."_ The boy moved on to the next tree, his eyes still locked on the group of men below him as he argued with his zanpaktou.

_Nobody can deal with pain alone._

The boy sighed, trying his best to just leave the conversation at that point. He didn't want to deal with those issues. Not now, as he stared down at the search party below him.

Three nearly simultaneous explosions caught the boy boy surprise.

The branch the boy was sitting on blasted into splinters as the boy leapt to another just in time. Drawing his zanpaktou while staying hidden behind the leaves, Toshiro searched for the attacker, while below him, the men gaped in shock.

A trio of hollows, each nearly the size of the huge trees that surrounded them, stared down at the scene below them, hunger gleaming in their eyes.

**Ack, I barely made it over a thousand words... I'm sorry, but writing today was just torture. Gaahhhhhh**

**I need to go.. please review me...!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, hello... I deeply apologize for my recent absence from the fanfiction world... summer assignments+art+kingdom hearts+art+facebook+art= no imagination left over to update... I'm sorry... its just that ive been very cooped up in thinking about my original story and shiro-chan hasnt been showing up very much in the bleach manga lately so I havent been thinking about him much... but last night I was... and now... well, here u go!**

**(I can't wait until im done with these OCs and this entire part of the story... I hate it...)**

An explosion of spiritual pressure sent Akite in a whirl of shock, and his hand fumbled around for his zanpaktou. The other men gaped in confusion, each gripping their makeshift weapons, unsure and frightened by the appearance of a new foe. Drawing his zanpaktou, Akite stared up at the surrounding hollows, his eyes wide. Even as he faced them, the teen knew full well this wasn't a fight someone of his meager abilities could win. Fresh from the academy, Akite didn't even know the name of his zanpaktou, much less how to use against enemies of this caliber.

By his side, Domoji grunted in frustration. One of the hollows advanced, its mask shaped into a melancholic grin, proving its glee at his own position of dominance.

Across the clearing, Toshiro glared at the group of opponents from atop a tree, hidden behind the leaves.

"Men... we can't let a few hollows stop us if we're ever going to find Hitsugaya. Attack them!" Domoji's voice rang through the area, and the people behind him could only gape, their eyes wide and hearts clouded by fear.

"But, there's no way we can-"

"That doesn't matter!" Domoji gave his final response and charged, swinging the oversized club in his hands towards the hollow nearest him.

The remaining men were bewildered. They glanced between one another with growing insecurity. It wasn't until Akite, bringing his zanpaktou out of its sheath, joined Domoji that they found their courage. With battle cries and fierce expressions, the men moved out, fruitlessly attacking the oversized and rather skeptical hollows.

Toshiro could hardly believe the foolhardy men. In their position, defeat was inevitable.

Gripping his zanpaktou, Toshiro leapt from the tree, swing Hyourinmaru around the backside of the middle hollow, staying out of the line of sight of the men. The hollow gave shriek of pain, then attempted to turn to see its attacker. Before the creature could react further, however, Toshiro sliced it a second time, and shunpoed away as the monster disintegrated.

As the men stared at the empty space in front of them, they gave a start, looking towards each other in further confusion.

Landing by another tree, Toshiro turned to the other hollow, his zanpaktou ready.

The swish of a another being flashed somewhere overhead, and the boy barely stopped himself in time to see the other two hollows disintegrate before his eyes, and a pair of shinigami landed in front of the group of men.

Recognizing the forms of the two newcomers as Lieutenants Hisagi and Kira, the boy's eyes narrowed and he vanished, shunpoing the away from the crowd.

"What's going on here?" Hisagi demanded, glaring at the group. "Is anyone hurt?"

He received a murmur of "no, we're fine" and gave a nod. Warily suspicious of their intentions, the lieutenant went on to tell them they should go home, and not be out of the village at this hour.

As the men were reprimanded by the high level shinigami, Domoji stared, his eyes wide, at the edge of the clearing.

He wasn't sure, but he could've sworn he saw a flash of silver hair and black uniform vanish by a tree.

* * *

Toshiro's steps fell hard on the dry and aging leaves, and each one cracked under the pressure. His eyes hard and determined, Toshiro scanned the forest area around him, searching every shadow.

There was no doubt. If the hollows had attacked, _he_ must've let them in.

Grimacing, the boy continued his search, stretching his mind, searching for his foe's spiritual pressure. As much as he didn't want it to be true, he knew the man had to be nearby.

A rustle of leaves brought Toshiro to a sudden stop. His breath coming unsteadily, he gripped Hyourinmaru, his eyes widening as he turned his gaze around to where the noise originated from.

What met his eyes was no human form as he so feared, but rather a sudden flash of light, bursting from behind the bush and speeding towards the boy. Dodging the kido with ease, Toshiro glared into the shadow, his entire body tense.

Then, it disappeared. The boy's eyes widened in shock as the reiatsu he had felt a thread of a moment before vanished.

Toshiro's hand clenched in rage. How many times had this happened in the past month? Too many. And every time, his heart pounded uncontrollably fast, and he couldn't help the overwhelming fear that seized him. There was nothing the boy hated more than being taunted, and that was exactly what Aizen was doing. Showing up, releasing fragments of his power, and then disappearing again.

Another bright light whistled past the boy's ear, and he spun on his heel, his eyes wide.

He was barely able to dodge the ensuing explosion. Sliding away, Toshiro immediately glanced to his side, where another explosion came soon afterwards. Skillfully dodging each kido, the boy shunpoed from one tree to another, all the while searching for his attacker.

As he sped towards another tree to evade an attack, the boy failed to notice a second kido flash from a blind spot behind him.

The kido flew into the tree by Toshiro's side, shattering it into many splinters in a sudden force that took the boy by surprise, sending him flying the opposite direction.

His mind momentarily befuddled, Toshiro couldn't regain himself before he his back made contact with a hard boulder, and he slid to the ground, dazed. Blinking, he stared dizzily at the ground below him, trying to recover clarity. It wasn't until he tried to stand that he noticed the pain that shot up his leg.

Wincing, his eyes darted to his knee, where blood had begun to seep through his shihakuso. A few large splinters stood out of the wound, and the boy noticed with growing anxiety that it had hit against a sharp rock as he had landed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Toshiro noticed another flash just in time to push himself away, but it missed him by only inches. The explosion sent him face-first into the ground a few feet away.

"tch..." The boy pushed himself off the ground as much as he was able, gripping his throbbing leg and leaning against a tree for stability. It wasn't so much the pain that disabled him as the fact that he was slowly losing feeling in his knee, and he could tell the muscle was about to fail him.

"Come now, you can't be done already?"

Toshiro's mouth opened and closed in shock, the familiar voice and the wave of fear that came with it robbing him of his breath.

A resounding chuckle was all it took for the boy to find his strength. Gripping his zanpaktou tighter, he rushed forward, blinding heading into the thicket from which Aizen's voice came from.

There was nothing. Nothing but more trees and more bushes. Looking around furiously, Toshiro gasped for breath, still clutching his leg in one hand.

Another chuckle. The boy leapt in its direction, now running through the forest with barely any attention to where he was going, completely lost in the blur of motion.

The sudden sound of water brought the boy to a stop. Slowly bringing himself to push through another thicket, he found himself by the edge of a cliff, with a large waterfall cascading down the edge and into a large river below.

Panting and gasping, Toshiro stared at the water, his eyes still wide as he tried to regain a sense of calm.

It didn't last long as another flash of light stole the boy's attention. With an anxious grunt, he shunpoed away, grimacing as his leg protested.

Another came. And then another. Each time, Toshiro dogded, until his leg finally gave out on him.

His balance thrown off, the boy could do nothing to stop himself as he stumbled, blood arcing through the air as he slipped off the edge of the cliff.

**Wheeeee falling off a cliff! at least there's water down there... TOSHI! ahhhhhhh... im gonna go now, srry for the delayed update, and plz review me …... no seriously some encouragement would be great just about now, I'm kinda falling apart in writing...**


	6. Chapter 6

Do I have a blood fetish? There's this website () that I post my art on (it's pretty much deviantart only only for manga and there are less professional people that use it, so its at a bit of a lower level but you also get a lot of feedback...) and somebody said I have a blood fetish... hmmmmmm... but he's only seen 4 pictures I've drawn that involve blood (of course there are plenty others, but usually I mess up or something so I don't post it online) not that I mind him saying that, of course... is it apparent in my writing as well? Or only my art? Hmmm...

**well, I should prolly worry less about that and more about this chapter... I've actually been thinking about this one for quite a while... :)... oh god the end of this story is so horrible... .ack why'd I suddenly start thinking about it...?**

**and... apparently my lack of inspiration for writing is not reflected in my chapters? Hmm... maybe I should rephrase and say I have a lack of energy. So it isn't really my writing that's going downhill, only the length of the chapters. I'll always keep the word count above a thousand, but its been taking a surprising amount of effort lately... I really don't know whats going on with that... **

**hmmphh... enjoy the chapter.**

Ice cold water ran down through the extent of the river, snaking around every pebble and rock, and skimming near the form of a small boy. Stirring, the boy grimaced, his hand find his leg and immediately pressuring it as he uneasily opened his eyes.

If anything, it was the cool water that now flowed around him that saved Toshiro from further injury. While his body protested, the boy slowly turned, bringing his head up just enough to glance down at the state of his body. Even though there were a few splinters lodged into the bone, most of the major problems had been pushed out and cleansed by the river water.

Forcing out the remaining splinters, Toshiro grunted and winced, his entire body aching. Judging by his location, the boy examined, he had hit the water pretty hard, knocking him unconscious, until he was carried by the current to the position he was at the moment.

His head pounding, the boy left his bleeding leg and looked up at the rocky shore he had come to. With some effort, and his vision swaying, the boy pulled himself out of the water, using all of his effort to get on the land so he would be able to wrap up the wound. Toshiro had barely made it three feet before he collapsed, the loss of blood and mental exhaustion chewing on the boy's consciousness.

The amount of shock and terror that Toshiro couldn't control that came with Aizen's presence was enough, along with the annoyance of his leg injury, to send the boy back into unconsciousness, laying on the pebbled shore.

* * *

"Akite! Would you listen to me?"

Akite glanced upward at the sound of Domoji's rage. After coming back from their failed venture to find Hitsugaya, all the party's men had gone off their separate ways, back to their own homes for the night. But Akite and Domoji remained by the village gate, Akite staring off into the forest, his mind elsewhere, Domoji brooding over something unknown.

"What do you want?" The teenager responded coldly, still gazing the other direction.

Domoji's eyes narrowed at the boy's lack of attention, but continued nonetheless, holding back his temper as he began to explain. "Don't think that it's a little strange? Hollows attacking in the Soul Society? You're a soul reaper now, you should know better than I do that that's not natural."

His eyes sifting to the side, Akite frowned. He knew where Domoji was headed, and it wasn't a topic he wanted to touch.

"Somebody must've allowed the hollows in, a soul reaper."

"Look, I don't think it's-"

"WHOELSE COULD IT BE?" Domoji yelled, his unpredictable temper flaring.

Akite was silent, now glaring at the hard ground.

"Why are you like this? Don't you understand that he killed Kana? That he tried to kill you!"

The teenager could only glare, speechless in his own confusion.

"You just don't get it, do you? He was there! I saw him! That goddam Hitsugaya was there watching us the entire time!"

Akite looked up, his eyes widening a little. "What?"

Domoji glared at his companion, his voice heavy with hatred. "You just don't get, do you? That bastard was trying to kill us!"

* * *

"I guess the Head Captain was right. The people here have been getting riled up." Izuru speculated, staring around the forest as he walked by Hisagi's side.

The lieutenant gave his friend a small nod in agreement before turning back to his surroundings. Sighing, Izuru glanced at Hisagi wondering why his friend was in such a brooding mood this time.

"We should check the outer perimeter one more time," Hisagi calculated after a short pause. "We have to make sure there's no more villagers roaming about in case there's another hollow attack. Then we should be done."

Kira sighed without comment, but gave a nod of his consent. With that, the two moved onwards in silence, keeping a wary eye to their surroundings in search for any more souls.

It wasn't long, however, until Izuru stopped in his tracks, his eyes suddenly fixed on something.

"Hey, isn't that...?"

Hisagi stopped and turned at the sound of his friend's surprised voice and gave him a questioning look until the third squad lieutenant swiftly walked out off the left.

"Hitsugaya!"

With a small jolt of surprise, Hisagi came to a stop from following his friend as soon as he heard the name. He had just come into the line of sight of a small, flowing river, and the small form of a boy who lay unconscious next to it.

"... Hisagi, he's hurt. Could you help...?" Izuru trailed off, staring at his friend's irritated expression. "Hisagi?"

The boy was beginning to stir, and a pair of teal eyes opened slowly, trying to take in the sudden appearance of voices.

"... Hitsugaya," Izuru turned back to the ex-captain, his eyes wide. "Wha-what happened?"

Toshiro took a long glance at Kira, coming to understand the situation. He neglected to respond, however, and his eyes slowly found their way to Hisagi, who was glaring at the boy from the forest's edge.

**ACCKKK I'm sorry, I would write a long author's note and a longer chapter, but I'm really rushed to get to my homework. I've spent the entire day since I got home working on this, and it was quite forced, I'm sorry... and I notice nothing important really happened in it, so I suppose that's abit of a let down, and I really apologize...**

**Soon, though, things should start to stir up with the OCs and Toshi... SHIROOOOOO I luv uuuuu... sniffle ur so cute and I do such horrible things to u... although those "horrible things" are yet to begin, I'M SORRY!... oh wait I do horrible things to Ichigo too, don't I? Hmmmm but not as badly as I do to Toshiro... (now contemplating the different levels of horribleness with which I treat characters) **

**I gotta go... I luv u all veryvery much... yes u kno I just want u to review but I appreciate everyone's feedback so much! I really do! PLEASE?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Siiggghhhhh …. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a month. A lots been going on, Schools back in session, I've been moved up to a higher art class, i've been asked to illustrate a children's book, I had to study for PSATs, my grades aren't as high as they should be so I actually need to study, and my mom got a job so there's a lot more responsibility around the house on my shoulders. All in all, life is BUSY... not to mention the all Deviantart activity I've been up to... It's really sad how little attention my art gets online...**

**But I realize my writing gets nearly five times as much attention, so I'm getting back on the wagon. Toshiro FINALLY showed up again in the manga, and my attention to him is indeed refocused. Heh, I've already even started planning the horrible things I can do to him in the fanfiction I think I'll write once I'm done with End of Freedom (GOD I HATE THE TITLE) **

**Anyways, I really want to be over and done with these stupid OCs. I don't think this sequel is living up the original so far, and I haven't done enough horrible things to shiro chan yet. IN short: I'm gonna start moving this along. I really need to stop dragging things out and get to the good stuff, lest I lose you guys' attention (shudder) So please bear with me, it'll get interesting, I promise! **

"Hisagi?" Izuru stared, his eyes lined with worry, as his friend glared at Hitsugaya, his narrowed eyes flickering with uncertainty.

By Kira's side, Toshiro's expression turned away from Hisagi, his stomach twisting into a knot of remorse, even as his face remained stoic. His sopping wet hair hung in his face, the single bang clinging to his forehead as the boy silently stared at the pebbles below him.

Hisagi himself was speechless. He had hated Hitsugaya from the moment he heard of what he did to Rangiku, he had fully wished for the boy to die, preferably by Hisagi's own hand. Even as he tried to understand the boy's position, and the fact that he knew Hitsugaya would never willingly harm his own lieutenant, Hisagi's rage would not subside, not until he could find his revenge.

But when the time came that the boy was standing in front of him in Hueco Mundo, and even as Hisagi scowled and complained that the boy was still alive, that hatred very nearly died. Toshiro Hitsugaya's face was so forlorn, his body so abused, Hisagi couldn't hold onto the hatred. It completely disappeared as soon as Rangiku joined once more, and the boy's relief was so clearly visible. Even though Hisagi continued to act as though he was angry with Hitsugaya, his conflicting feelings finally formed one thought: he doesn't deserve it.

"You..." Hisagi's expression tightened, and he glanced away as he tried to break the silence. "You know there are villagers about, trying to find you."

Toshiro tore his eyes from the pebbles and looked up at Hisagi, taken aback by the lieutenant's change of behavior.

"And how did you get that injury on your leg?" Shuuhei took a couple steps forward, until he came to crouch in front of the boy, who simply stared at him, his eyes dim with confusion.

Seeing the younger soul reaper's expression, Hisagi gave a small sigh, he didn't want to have to say his next words. "I... I'm sorry, Hitsugaya, I've been unfair to you."

Toshiro confusion elevated into bewilderment as his eyes widened softly. Glancing from Hisagi to Izuru, the boy could only give a a couple of blinks of befuddlement, utterly taken by surprise.

Kira gave a Hisagi a small smile of gratitude. Turning to the boy by his side, then, he held out a hand.

"Here, at least let me help you with that leg."

With his expression softening from confusion to appreciation, Toshiro obliged, mumbling a small thanks.

"How did this happen, anyway?"

"I..." Toshiro's gaze once more fled to the side, not wanting to recall his earlier encounter. "I fell."

Hisagi looked up with an incredulous glance. It wasn't like any soul reaper of a captain's caliber to trip and fall. But with one look at the boy's hardened and cold eyes, Hisagi allowed the subject to drop as Izuru healed his leg, knowing the small ex-captain wouldn't want to speak anymore of the matter.

"Either way, there still are rukongai citizens acting suspicious, we ran into a group of them being attacked by hollows earlier." Stated Hisagi, unaware of Toshiro's involvement in the encounter. "I'm fairly sure they were... looking for you."

"Yes, I know." Toshiro responded in a voice smaller than the one he used to command. Glaring at the injury on his leg he had acquired, Toshiro's mouth tightened into a deeper frown. He knew all too well of the villager's intentions, but he didn't want to give it much thought. The boy's teal eyes flickered back to Hisagi's face momentarily, his mind still fully grasped by the confusion at the lieutenant's forgiveness.

Toshiro looked away sullenly as Izuru completed healing. He didn't deserve anyone's forgiveness.

* * *

Akite stared into the crystal-like water in the basin in front of him, rubbing his face half-consciously. It was nearly sunset, and, as he began to hear the sounds of various people passing by the home he stayed in, the boy started towards his zanpaktou.

_That boy... Hitsugaya... He isn't someone I should have any mercy towards, _Domoji had convinced him of that. _Hitsugaya Toshiro was there when the hollows attacked, Hitsugaya killed Kana, Hitsugaya is nothing but a bloodthirsty monster._

Akite's eyes narrowed as he repeated the words to himself. He was tired of doubting everything around him, especially those facts. Whatever it was that made Akite's sinister thoughts hesitate when he thought of Hitsugaya, the teenager was determined to make himself forget it.

The teenager gripped his zanpaktou tightly as he began leaving his home. He had to find Hitsugaya with the others, it wasn't an option anymore. His heart felt as though his lost friend's soul was pleading to be redeemed, and he couldn't take it anymore.

He wanted revenge.

**GAAHhHh Like I said I need to get this moving along...**

**Do you people know what a flash comic is? If you don't, look on my DA page, there are come on my fav list, but I really want to make one... no, I actually have three I want to make... But i'm not sure... anyone think I should?**

**Anyway... I actually got myself to upload (see twin I told I would) so that's my accomplishment for the day. Please please please please PLEASE review and give me some support... I need it if I'm ever gonna finish this...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here we go, another chapter! I actually know what I'm doing this time! Haha, that;s like, unheard of for this sequel. **

**I thought I should clarify something that I thought might need clarifying. In the end of the first installment, if you remember, Kyoka Suigetsu was destroyed by the explosion with the Hogyoku's power, meaning Aizen can't use any illusions anymore, only kido and kendo. I thought I made that quite clear but I just wanted to make sure you all knew that... **

**I'm getting rid of these OCs as fast as I can, I promise! They'll be gone soon enough, but they haven't played their most important part in the story yet, so we gotta wait a little. Though Shiro-chan gets some pain soon...and I know how we all love that...**

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Izuru's small voice gave Toshiro a deeper frown as the boy got to his feet, his expression deep. With a glance to Hisagi, he gave a silent nod, still too absorbed in his own thoughts to be fully lucid.

"Well then," Shuuhei continued carefully, examining the boy's countenance. "We should be getting back to the Seireitei."

Another silent nod. The small ex-captain's increasingly morose behavior became progressively strange to the two lieutenants, who stood mystified by the change that had overcome the petite soul reaper.

Without much of another word to offer to Toshiro, Hisagi turned to his friend, unsure, but knowing the boy probably only wanted to be alone.

"Take care of yourself, Hitsugaya." Finished Hisagi, giving the boy one last concerned glance before shunpoing away, Izuru trailing behind him.

Toshiro stared at the water as it flowing through the river in a somber state, neither forming any coherent thoughts nor lost in his own mind. He felt empty, as thought the excitement from the previous night had sucked away all of energy and left the boy feeling dry, thin, and utterly exhausted.

With a sigh, Toshiro turned away from the cool water and walked away into the forest, making his way back to his makeshift home he had managed to get so far away from. Within half an hour, he was back at the small camp, staring darkly at the neatly packed supplies he kept at the ready. Glancing around slowly, the boy settled himself against a tree, sitting on the ground as he removed a book from a small pile he had obtained from Ukitake.

Toshiro fingered the well-used binding, but couldn't bring himself to open it. At a time, not even too long ago, the child prodigy had unbreakable focus. If it was something that benefited him to pay attention to, Toshiro could remain focused for hours on end.

But as he brought his knees up to his chest, resting a cheek on one, his mind wandered away drowsily, the unopened book sliding down into the grass once more.

_Master... Won't you at least eat something? You haven't in days._

Toshiro stole a glance at the bundle of buns Ichimaru had brought to him. They were cold now, but they were still warm when he had received them. Warm, and baked fully out of Rangiku's loving care and compassion.

At the thought of Rangiku, however, Toshiro's stomach churned as the image of her horror-stricken face flashed momentarily before his eyes, and the sickening sound of his own blade cutting through her flesh rang in his ears. Illusion or not, the memory remained as realistic as any murder the boy had committed in the past few months.

With a nearly inaudible groan, Toshiro turned his eyes away from the buns, trying to take his mind elsewhere.

_Master? _Hyourinmaru once more questioned his master's well being.

_Not now, Hyourinmaru..._ came the boy's forced reply, though even in his own mind he nearly choked on each word. _I can't... Not now._

The great ice dragon fell quiet, too kind to press the fatigued boy any further. Toshiro, turning to lay on his side, closed his heavy eyelids, sinking as softly as he could manage into a light slumber.

* * *

"You've made the right decision, Akite."

Akite threw Domoji a dirty glare, not in the mood to hear the man's words. As the remaining men gathered, Domoji gave the teenager a short glance, then turned to them, his jaw set with determination.

"Today won't be like last night." The man's voice rang out to the gathered villagers, all who turned their attention to him immediately, their thoughts clinging to his every word. "Hitsugaya is somewhere in this forest, and he's already tried to kill us once! What's to say he won't come again, and terrorize our families once more, who says he won't kill everyone we hold dear?"

A roar tore through the crowd of men, each raising their voices as if the very sound would save them from the nightmarish murderer.

"We can not allow this traitor to roam free as the Seireitei decrees. For the sake of everything we care for, we WILL hunt him down! And we WILL kill him!"

The resounding cheer that followed Domoji's words rose through the village, and echoed in the night sky, scattered birds with intensity of their passion.

* * *

"Shiro... Shiro-chan..."

The small boy's breath came shakily, uneven and broken as he struggled to manage each intake of air.

"Shiro... you said you wanted to protect me, Shiro-chan..."

Thick drops of blood splattered on the ground as thin wires cut deeply into the boy's wrists, drawing more and more blood as he was pulled forward, stressing the wires that bound him. A petite girl stood in front of him, holding the boy by the neck as she brought him closer to her, her peachy skin brushing against his tanner.

"But if you wanted to protect me... then why did you kill all those people... why did you kill Rangiku? You might as well have killed me."

The boy's lower lip trembled, and he softly whispered an apology, his head bowed and eyes shadowed by locks of silver hair.

Anger shook through the dark brown eyes of the boy's childhood friend. "You're pathetic, Hitsugaya Toshiro. A murder, traitor, and a monster. You've fallen too low to even be called human." As she raised a blunt, black object, her features began to change, and smile formed across her lips. "You must be punished, Hitsugaya, what you've done is unforgivable. You're nothing but a dirty coward."

The boy trembled as the person before him forced his head upwards to meet his eyes.

The dark brown eyes had changed to a lighter shade, and the entire face had been transformed.

"You must be punished."

Aizen Sousuke drove the weapon into the chest of the wide-eyed boy, and the room filled with a scream wretched and pain-stricken.

* * *

Toshiro bolted upright, scream still caught in his throat. His teal eyes wide, the boy shuddered, gripping his robe so tightly the cloth began to stretch, in danger of ripping. As he futilely attempted to pull himself together, the image of Aizen's cruel face flashed before his eyes, bringing back unwanted memories.

Nervously, Toshiro wiped beads of sweat from his forehead, his hands uncontrollably shaking. Even his breath came harshly, breaking into sudden gasps that led him into hyperventilation. In his panic, the boy clutched the area over his heart, grasping it until his nails dug into the skin leaving small scratches across the blackened surface.

His chest, the center scarred black by the device of Aizen, shuddered as Toshiro struggled to regain his breath, to bring himself stability. From deep inside of him, Hyourinmaru didn't speak a word, but silently ran his reiatsu through the boy's being, enveloping him in an attempt to comfort him.

It was several minutes before the boy managed to clamber to his feet, though his shaking knees almost buckled underneath his weight. Calming his breath, the boy steadied himself, until the shaking had mostly stopped.

Still trying to regain his lucidity, the boy stumbled forward, trying to head towards the small river that was so nearby. In his disoriented state, however, the boy soon found himself with no clue where he was, and tried helplessly to recognize his surroundings.

Toshiro took a long, deep breath. The boy had become familiar with such situations in the past month, he often awoke from nightmares and then wandered off to find some cool water to relax him, only to find himself lost and befuddled. But as the boy regained his calm countenance, he slowly took a look around him.

What met his eyes nearly caught the boy by surprise. His expression widened into a shock that was mirrored almost perfectly in the dark blue eyes of the young teenage soul reaper who stood across the clearing.

The wind rustled Akite's brown hair as he stared, disbelieving at the person before him, a person who had only appeared to him once before, on a day that felt like a horrible nightmare.

Toshiro Hitsugaya.

**Hey I actually wrote a longer chapter then usual... although it is only 1300 some words... I'm sorry... but I needed to end it where I did for a good cliffhanger effect. Sorry sorry... **

**Akite finally meets Shiro-chan! hooray! **

**I have no idea where I'm gonna come up with all the nightmares shiro's gonna have, cuz throughout this story he seems to have A LOT of nightmares. Also, I should mention i've put a lot of work into his change of behavior and how his past is now effecting him emotionally and transforming his demeanor. It gets worse though, lol, but at least there's always ichigo to step in... Anyway, tell how I'm doing with it please!  
**

**I think I need to have Momo show up soon, even though she doesn't play as much of a role in this part of the story... Ichigo does most of the yelling at shiro-chan lol. Wellll... please review me, my friends (AND WATCH THE NEWEST EPISODE OF BLEACH THAT CAUGHT UP TO THAT PART IN THE MANGA AAGGHHH) I love you all!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ahhhhh... I love you guys... I was just re-reading all the reviews for the last chapter of the first installment, and I love you all soooo very much :)**

…**. well, I should actually be pissed off, review-wise. You know, I put a TON of effort into the last chapter and I thought it came out really, really well, and I really like it, and yet for some reason, I only got three reviews (not counting my twin). Three. THREE.**

To the three of you who did review, don't think you've gone unappreciated. Thank you very, very much, and please continue to do so (of course now I feel bad that there are reviewers in the past when I only get like five reviews that deserve recognition... heck, anyone who reviews deserves recognition, so I'm sorry about that. Despite the fact that I should be mad that I only got three reviews, I do appreciate each an every single one I get, I LOVE YOU ALL, okay?)b

Toshiro unsteadily shifted the weight in his feet, his eyes wide and bright with momentary confusion as they traced across the face of the teenager, taking in the sudden presence. His mind slowly drawing itself into clarity, the boy blinked several times, taken aback.

Akite stood across the clearing, his eyes equally wide with confusion as they beheld the figure before him. His hand grew balmy with sweat as it lingered near his zanpaktou, barely able to touch it in his stupor. The two stared at each other for a few moments until Toshiro finally straightened his stance, taking an unsteady breath. His glance flew away from the now painfully familiar face before him. He had seen Akite from the trees earlier, but upon closer inspection, the boy was unmistakably familiar to him. Toshiro's countenance died into an expressionless frown, the teal crystals of eyes fading into a dark, deep void as the memory of the soul reaper repeated itself in his mind.

Akite, however, could barely recover from his shock. Even as Toshiro's expression returned to one that he was even more acquainted to, Akite could only stare as his heart beat faster and faster, mixed with more fear than even hatred. His own trembling refused to cease, and in the face of such a foe, images of the death of his dearest friend passed before his eyes, bringing the boy to even greater distress.

It wasn't until something crashed in the nearby bushes that Akite was able to tear his eyes away from Toshiro. A grunt emitted itself from a large form that stumbled through the leaves, a series of swears following closely behind the sound.

"Wha...Aki-" Domoji straightened as he came out of the shadows, his eyes growing huge as they flew from Akite to Hitsugaya. His voice failed him as his gaze lingered on the zanpaktou-less Hitsugaya, who returned the contact with an air of emptiness and solemnity Domoji didn't have the will to recognize.

The man didn't even bother to utter another word when his mind snapped into action. With an ear-splitting roar, he charged, first curled into a ball so tight blood flew from it as his nails dug into his own skin. The punch hit Toshiro with the entirety of Domoji's fury, sending the boy's small form to the ground as he took the blow without as much as a flinch.

But the adrenaline rush that coursed through the young villager's veins disabled him from exercising restraint. Utter anger burning through his chest, Domoji landed a kick in the boy's chin, and followed by bringing his hand to the boy's throat, strangling the motionless soul reaper while bringing him to a kneel.

Toshiro didn't give a single movement of protest even while Domoji held the boy in his hands. His eyes rested on Domoji, calm but brimming with the intensity of his buried emotion, even as they appeared dull and nearly lifeless.

Domoji, however, was far too caught up in his ire to even pause. With a holler of bitter hatred, he hurled the boy into a tree with his full might, bringing blood up Toshiro's throat and trickling down his chin, though the boy gave no recognition of it.

"A- Akite..." Domoji's eyes remained wide as he stared at the silver haired soul reaper, even as he addressed the other person present. "Do you get it now? Don't you recognize him?"

Unimaginable rage shone through Domoji's eyes as he turned to look at the horror-stricken teenager. "HE'S A GODDAM MURDERER!"

* * *

Momo fingered a small stack of papers on her desk idly. The paperwork needed to be done, yet the girl found herself with little focus in doing so. Fidgeting with the edge of a cup tea, she gave a dazed smile as she remember Toshiro always reminding her that doing paperwork was important.

The smile didn't last long, however, as she thought about his apparent current position. The boy was mature, yet in his current state, she didn't know how well he would take care of himself, and it constantly worried her. If it was up to her, she would never leave his side, and willingly be exiled with him. But she knew he wouldn't want that, and his constant act of pretending everything was just fine proved that.

Momo knew he wanted to be alone, or at least, most of him did. His torn emotions were probably so tangled that even he didn't know what he wanted anymore.

Heaving a sigh, the lieutenant pushed away the paperwork and got to her feet, grabbing her zanpaktou as she left the room, her mind set on settling some of her worries.

* * *

Snow white hair met the dirt as Toshiro collided with the ground, blood beginning to flow freely from several points across his head and body. The boy didn't make the slightest noise as someone planted a hard kick in his stomach, turning him onto his back.

"I don't care! Why don't we just kill him now?"

"Because! Don't you think we're not the only ones who deserve to get revenge! We should wait!"

The boy turned his head to the side, his interest in listening to them lost. His empty gaze found its way across the many faces above him, and into the moonlit sky. He stared gravely at the stars before looking around his surroundings with a half-hearted carelessness. The villagers who had gone to search for him along with Domoji had all congregated and dragged the boy to their village, the middle of which he now lay, bloody and beaten, yet still completely placid.

Something pinched in his shoulder, and the boy gave a glance down to his chest. A man was crouched over him, digging a knife into the boy's right shoulder, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Damn... damn you..." The man spoke hoarsely as his face twisted with hate, turning the blade into Toshiro's flesh, producing more and more blood from the wound.

While the boy was getting dizzy from the loss of blood, he continued to stare at the man impassively, the immense pain he felt but perfectly masked not coming from any physical injury the villagers could inflict upon him.

"You killed my daughter, and my wife, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH SUFFERING YOU'VE CAUSED? I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL!" The man above him brought the knife down into the boy's shoulder again, pushing it deeper and deeper until half of the man's hand had also made it into the boy's flesh.

Toshiro's vision began to fade as the loss of blood increased, and the man before him swayed. The boy barely noticed when the villager was dragged off of him, and the others gave a roar excitement, each of them wanting their own share.

Somebody pulled him up by his arms and began to drag the boy backwards, towards somewhere darker. Toshiro gave one last dark glance around before he gave into sleep, turning his head slightly to try and catch one glimpse of the moon before he was taken into some house.

But his eyes didn't meet with the sight he futilely desired. They instead found a pair of wide, dark blue eyes for a single moment before he was dragged into the house.

Akite stood by the doorway of the home, his expression stretched in shock. He covered his mouth and sank to the wooden floor, grasping his knees close to his chest. He didn't know what to think, and the boy's forlorn glance only brought the teenage soul reaper to further confusion. He stared at the man who had dug the blade into Hitsugaya's chest, his arm now covered in the boy's blood.

Akite, unlike every single man who had gone out with the search party, hadn't struck the boy once. Hitsugaya's eyes were just too much for him, and the complete lack of response to each painful blow bewildered him.

_Why? Why doesn't he stop them?_ Akite curled into a fetal position and gripped locks of his hair as he buried himself in his thoughts. _He's killed so many people, yet he doesn't lay a hand on anyone here even though they're on the verge of beating him to death! Why?_

**NYYEEHHH I gotta go eat dinner and do some art... I hope you guys liked the chapter, I sure did. I actually enjoyed writing it, which is something that is becoming increasingly rare... but the next chapters coming up I should be able to have a lot of fun with :):)**

**Please, please, PLEASE review me though. Really, in case you couldn't guess, I am at a loss of encouragement from you guys and it's not helping my motivation here... believe me, the amount of response I get from my readers has a HUGE effect on my eagerness to update next, and I really like knowing what you think, so PLEASE review, PLLEAASEEE!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm so sorry, you guys. I am just a terrible, terrible person... after I asked you all for reviews and you obliged wonderfully, I don't update for over a month? I'm very, very sorry. You deserve better *sob* As usual, my art has been taking over my life, and Toshiro simply doesn't take as much of a place in my imagination as he used to... I'm so sorry. I can't make any promises anymore, but for all your sakes, I'll try to continue and hopefully finish this story. I understand entirely how frustrating it is when an author doesn't update a good story, so please don't hate me... I'm trying.**

**(on my artistic note, I changed my avatar to one of my new drawings of my main character in my original story... ain't he awesome?)**

Toshiro rested his back on the cold stone hazily, staring at the wall across from him. Several angry voices resounded from outside the small room, and the boy recognized his name being mentioned continuously. With a sigh, Toshiro turned his gaze around the room he had woken up in, taking in his surroundings without much care.

The darkness was in every corner, but his eyes had perfectly adjusted to the lack of light. The small room had a damp feeling to it, despite it being floored and walled with stone, so Toshiro concluded that he must be underground, probably one of the villagers' cellars or basements.

As the voices outside grew lower, the boy heaved another sigh, pressing his hand to his temples in hopes of easing a growing headache. He stopped short, however, as he noticed blood sticking to his fingers. With an unfazed glance, he brought his hand down to where the villager had stabbed him, and fingered the tender skin gingerly. The knife had been dug in very deeply, almost through his back. Pressing some ripped cloth from his shihakuso to the wound, Toshiro could only stare at the dark walls as his mind wandered lazily.

It wasn't long, however, before the shouting from outside the cellar returned. Toshiro's eyes didn't give the slightest indication of fear as the door burst open, flooding him with a sudden light.

Voices swarmed around him incoherently as the looming figure of a man approached quickly, and a large hand grabbed him by the remnants of his robe. As the boy stared silently into the man's enraged eyes, he felt an odd sinking in his stomach and his throat tightened slightly, small threads of despair and remorse passed through his heart.

The sudden buts of ruefulness, however, were buried as soon as the villager's fist collided with the boy's gut. Blood congealed in Toshiro's throat, but he didn't utter a sound.

As much as his feelings twisted inside of him, Toshiro refused to let them an ounce of them affect his demeanor in the face of the villagers. Ichigo had told him to express his feelings, and that not doing so was in itself childish and weak, but Toshiro could not allow himself to. Not now.

Defending himself against the hatred of the villagers, the hatred that now led the man before him to bring his knee into the boy's chest, knocking the breath out of him, wasn't something he could bring himself to do when he thought of himself just as guilty as they did.

Somebody had forced the man away, and Toshiro sunk to the floor as he was once more left in darkness. Despair overthrew the boy's heart, and he could only gaze, despondent, at the hard floor, blood streaking across his face and body.

* * *

With a short stumble that she hope nobody was around to see, Momo Hinamori made her way into the small clearing she knew her close friend inhabited. Her eyes widened, however, to find Toshiro absent, his small storage of supplies still neatly bundled by a tree, looking untouched, with the exception of one book, which laid on its side in the grass.

The sight agitated Momo's worries. Toshiro, even in exile, had very orderly habits. He would never leave a book outside of its proper place. The girl's breath caught for a moment as her eyes wandered past it and onto the ground nearby, where a purple sheathed zanpaktou lay abandoned.

Momo hands grew sweaty as she examined the area.

"Shiro...? Shiro-chan? Are you here?" Stepping through another set of bushes, Momo worriedly checked the area near the river, glancing around in hopes that her friend would appear. She gave a shiver and ran back to his encampment, nervously grabbing Toshiro's zanpaktou while feeling for his spiritual pressure.

It could be nothing, she told herself. He could've just gone to find some berries, or was finding some fresher water...

_No. _she concluded _He wouldn't leave his zanpaktou behind no matter he was doing. He's been so on edge, he's been carrying it with him everywhere ever since he was exiled. Something must've happened._

Biting her lip in anxiety, she looped Hyourinmaru next to her own zanpaktou, her face set and determined to find her friend.

* * *

"You bastard!" Spite streamed through the man's voice as he dragged the small boy out of the cellar by his hair. "Don't you dare stare at me like that! You murdering scum!"

Toshiro's eyes fled to the corner. He couldn't stand the pure rage that boiled in the villager's being, and turned away with a silent and buried desperation.

"I've had enough! Let's stop waiting and just kill him already! Why does he deserve to continue living?" The man momentarily took his furious glare away from the boy who now lay bloody at his feet to yell at the remaining men, his face lined with hatred.

"No, not yet." Another spiteful voice resounded in Toshiro's ears as he stared at the floor, his lucidity dwindling. "There are still others who deserve to have their share in revenge. We'll wait until tomorrow."

Giving a loud growl, the man above him spat a curse and dug his foot into Toshiro's head. Pain rang through the boy's mind as his thoughts blurred. It wasn't long before the villager pulled away, only to bring his fist into the soul reaper's gut, punching his rock hard fist into his stomach with a curse every time.

Toshiro couldn't bring himself to make many clear thoughts as the force of each blow rocked his body and blood choked in his throat.

"Stop! Stop it immediately!"

The sound of another voice turned every head. An elderly man rushed into the room, pushing the villager above Toshiro aside and stood protectively over the boy.

"That's enough! We don't actually know that he's completely guilty, this isn't right!"

The village elder glared at the two men in the room, his normally calm and kind eyes furious with their injustice. Below him, Toshiro tore his gaze from the hard, cold floor, and stared up at the older man, slightly startled.

**I'm gonna try to update as soon as possible, as to prevent this month-long-procrastination thing. Please review me, even if I don't really deserve it. But since I'm pretty much gonna get started on the next chapter right away, the immediate support would be highly appreciated... hopefully with a update within the next few days... HOPEFULLY...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, my most dearest readers. The long-lost author of this story has returned from a deep, dark, and utterly fantastic world of her original story to grant you all my humblest and sincerest apologies for my prolonged absence. It's been five months since my last update, and while my original characters, my art, and my free time have enjoyed all the attention I've granted them over that period of time, I do believe the guilt has finally caught up to me. Today, upon sitting in front of the computer to watch some Gintama, I had a sudden and irresistible urge to take a moment on fanfiction. This, of course, led me to reread my story.**

… **I very nearly cried. I'm very sorry, everyone, for my seeming complete abandonment. Well, I can't even say that. I really did abandon this story for the past several months. And, who knows, after I update this chapter I may lose interest again. My original characters have a habit of doing things without telling me first, and then my complete attention has to be turned over to them, though I still love them either way. But for now, I will desperately scour the depths of my memory to retain the knowledge of the content of the rest of this story; which is becoming increasingly difficult: I spent five minutes trying to remember that really horrible ending I had... and then stopped and realized that I really was quite terrible, and felt bad for our dearest companion and friend, Shiro-chan. **

**Anyways, I hope that I still have everyone's continual support for this story, and that you will all forgive me for my failure to keep up with this. I still may (and probably will) leave this story incomplete, but I might as well get as far as I can into it, though it will include increasingly sporadic updates. Please bear with me and enjoy what I give. **

Domoji stood, his neck erect, glaring at the old man who crouched protectively in front of the murderer. His eyes flared with anger, and every muscle in his body was set tensely as his rage boiled. The memory of finding his lover and their daughter killed in their own home flashed ceaselessly before his eyes, and he soon found himself drenched in sweat and trembling. He had been the one who was always stopping the other men from killing Hitsugaya, despite his own thirst for the boy's blood. But seeing somebody, somebody from his own village, somebody who was considered to be wise and was respected by all the people in their district trying to protect the person whom had caused Domoji and many others untold suffering, brought him to a peak of rage.

The old man yelled at the small group of men, calling them stupid and begging them to see reason, but Domoji only glared, his eyes wide, with growing anger at the injustice. This boy was a murderer. The way Domoji saw it, he didn't deserve anyone's compassion. No murderer ever should.

Eventually the elder stopped, his breathing ragged, and stared at them, only his eyes still imploring for their understanding. Domoji continued to glower at the old man as he took a slow step forward, clenching and unclenching his fist to fend off his rage. With one strong, fluid movement, he grabbed the elder by the scruff of his shirt and brought his face up close to the other man's.

"That monster will die." Domoji's glare intensified and he spoke through tightly clenched teeth. " But not until he gets a taste of all the suffering he's given us. If you would choose to defend him, you're hardly any better off than he is. You disgust me."

Domoji tightened his grip momentarily before bringing his face away from the shocked elder, giving the man a final warning of the threat. Once cast aside, the elder, utterly speechless, was unable to move, terrified by the hostility in the man's threat. He could only stare open mouthed as Domoji and the few other men advanced towards Hitsugaya, each walking stiffly with anger. His heart practically sank to his stomach when he realized his pleas only succeeded in one thing: to make them angrier.

The man who had become the leader of the villagers against Hitsugaya bent down towards the small boy, his expression distorted into one of such distaste that the soul reaper could hardly bear to look it at. Domoji grabbed Toshiro by the throat and thrust him up against the wall, digging his fingers into the boy's flesh until an involuntary whimper came from his throat.

"You had better count yourself as lucky, you goddamn murder, that I don't kill you myself this very moment," He spat, hardly containing his rage, " because I'd like nothing more than to torture you until you beg for your life, and then watch you die as slowly and painfully as possible for your crimes.

"So you're lucky that I am compassionate to everyone else in the Soul Society. Instead, I'll make sure you get to suffer for everyone to see, so not one man will be denied his share in vengeance. And after we kill you, I hope you'll rot in hell for all of eternity, if you're even worthy of such a lenient sentence."

His face set with finality, he spit in the boy's face before releasing him and leaving the room, allowing the soul reaper to collapse to the ground, his expression crestfallen and his eyes bearing only empty sadness.

* * *

Ichigo stared grumpily at the pile of homework that had been stacked upon his desk. Deftly spinning a pen between his fingers, his attention slipped from his workload to the other matters that pressed on his mind. Namely, the young, exiled soul reaper with whom he had become friends.

If the pile of work on his desk wasn't so immense, Ichigo would've gotten up and sped off to the soul society immediately. But, being the last month of the school year, his teachers piled a more than necessary amount of work onto his already pressured mind. It didn't help that he was falling behind in his schoolwork due to his increasing lack of attention. The teenager could hardly wait for summer.

"Oi, oi! Don't you go zoning out, you loser!"

Ichigo ducked his head nonchalantly as Kon flew over it, his 'surprise' attack accomplishing only a short trip into the trash can on Ichigo's opposite side. As Kon sputtered about the indignity of landing in such an environment, Ichigo rolled his eyes and looked over to the window, where Rukia was stepping in daintily.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asked as she entered the room and walked to his side.

"Nothing," She admitted with a small shrug. "Just thought I'd say hi, it's been a while."

"It's been two weeks."

Her hands then rested on her hips and she glared, her eyes indignant. "Well, I'm sorry for the intrusion! What's with you? Now I'm not even allowed to visit when I want?"

Ichigo sighed and leaned back in his chair while throwing her a sarcastic glower. "You know, most people think it's rude for a guest to step in uninvited, especially through a bedroom window."

Rukia's response was given by her simply grabbing him by the hair and making a dangerously threatening voice.

"You care to enforce that, bastard?"

A smile spread across the teenager's face, followed by an easy laugh. "Is there any point to that?"

Releasing his hair, Rukia gave a victorious smile as she confirmed his question with a nod. As she sat on the edge of his bed, he bent over his work once more, and Rukia did not fail to notice how quickly the smile faded from his expression as his eyes momentarily lingered on his shinigami badge.

After staring at the back of her close friend's head for a long time, she began knocking her knees together as she spoke quietly.

"You're worried about Capt- … about Hitsugaya again, aren't you?"

Ichigo paused his work, but didn't turn around to look at her.

"It seems everyone is," she continued, staring at the ceiling, "It's making everyone quite glum."

Ichigo pushed away from his desk once more and heaved a long sigh. "I tried to convince him to come here with me, and stay at my house, but he practically won't listen to a word I say. It's like he wants to cause himself more pain."

"He's probably only trying to protect you."

"From what I can tell," Ichigo mumbled, "he's the one who needs protecting. I don't care if he was a captain or not, but I really don't think he's in any state to be able to take care of himself. And... he mentioned he thinks Aizen might be around, but it might only be his imagination. I really don't know what to think anymore."

Rukia stared at him for a long time, sharing her friend's concern for the boy, but not knowing what to say. At long last, she put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, hoping to at least offer a little comfort.

"It's okay, you'll figure something out. And Hitsugaya's not weak. If you help him, he'll manage."

* * *

Toshiro struggled for breath as he clambered up the wooden steps of the basement, wearily rubbing his sore throat where the man had held him earlier. Remembering the man's words, the boy visibly flinched and clutched his stomach to keep from vomiting, feeling too dizzy and weak to think about more painful things.

Reaching the door to his empty, make-shift prison, the child prodigy mumbled a short incantation, and pushed the door open.

The two men who had been told to guard the soul reaper had hardly turned around when they were hit with the kido. Each of their stunned faces slowly slacked, until their eyes closed and they stumbled to the floor, unconscious.

Toshiro stepped carefully over the two men and walked swiftly, as swiftly as he was able in his state, to the other side of the room, where the door stood ajar. In the next room, a man was asleep at the table, his head resting against the wood platform. The boy thanked his luck as he slipped in and out of the room, and then left the house with utter silence. A quick shunpo was all it took to evade the small group of men outside of the house, and then the boy quickly made his way down the empty streets, keeping to the shadows, not wanting to exhaust himself anymore with shunpo.

He pressed his back to house before silently turning the corner and nearing the outskirts of the village. His vigilant eye, however, noticed only a second too late the footfall behind him. Toshiro rushed to stop as he felt cool metal touch the nape of his neck, and he caught his breath, cursing himself for allowing himself to be lax for even a moment.

"Turn around." A low voice demanded.

Toshiro judged by the faint spiritual pressure behind him that his opponent would be one he could disarm with great ease, but he obliged and turned to face his new foe.

The boy was faced with a small jolt of recognition. His heart sinking, he raised his eyes to meet those of the young soul reaper who held his zanpaktou to Toshiro's neck.

"Do... do you remember me...?" The teenage soul reaper stuttered, trembling with anxiety. "Do you remember what you did to me?"

Toshiro stared at the soul reaper for a long time, his eyes filling with sadness as he took in the sickly appearance of the boy.

"My name... is Akite. After you murdered my dearest friend, you tried to murder me... DO YOU REMEMBER THAT?"

The sword shook violently in Akite's hand as he struggled to hold it to the ex-captain's neck. Continuing to stare at the teenager, Toshiro gave a slow, solemn nod. The face of every person he had killed was engraved in his memory, as sharp and painful as a dagger. This one, he had thought he had killed, but now knew, and was grateful of, his failure.

"Her name... was Kana..." Akite continued, his trembling only increasing as he saw the boy nod. "We grew up together... and she was the only person I could hold precious to me... But you... you killed her."

Toshiro's throat tightened as he mourned over their similar relationships. He swallowed heavily and granted a response that was the least he could give.

"I'm sorry."

His voice was so low and weak, Toshiro thought maybe the other boy didn't hear it, until Akite flinched. The teenager bit back tears as his trembling increased, until, at long last, he gave a groan of despair and threw his zanpaktou to the ground.

"No... no. I can see it in your eyes. What they said was true... you didn't want to."

Toshiro's eyes widened as the younger soul reaper buried his head in his hands and stifled a cry.

"I tried so hard to hate you. I could never understand why I felt sympathetic towards you... but that's it, isn't it? You aren't the one any of my hatred should be directed at... it's that man... Aizen... Aizen was hs name... he forced you to do it, didn't he?"

It was Toshiro's turn to flinch at the name, but he couldn't bring himself to respond to Akite's question. Every word he thought of caught in his throat as he shook slightly with exhaustion.

Akite looked up at the boy's bloody and bruised face, and clenched his teeth together tightly.

"Please... I want to know the truth. I don't want to be like everyone else and blindly hate someone. Please, please tell me. I have to know."

A shout rang across the town, making both soul reapers jump. Toshiro cursed under his breath. They must've discovered that he was missing.

Toshiro gave Akite a last glance, but then he turned away and prepared to shunpo. Before he could move, however, the teenager grabbed him by the wrist and held tightly, his eyes now fixed in a glare of determination.

"Please, just tell me."

The petite soul reaper again stared at the other boy's eyes for a long time before giving a quiet answer.

"I was given a choice. I made the selfish decision and that resulted in me having to obey every order given to me by that man... by Aizen. Killing your people was one of those orders."

"But what was it? What were you supposed to choose between?"

Toshiro struggled to retain an impassive expression as he forced himself to continue. "I was told I needed to either pledge my loyalty to him, or... or they would torture a very precious friend of mine until I agreed"

Toshiro only paused to calculate to distance of the men who's shouts were growing louder as Akite's expression distorted into one of shock.

"But a righteous person wouldn't have chosen as I did. My choice cost the lives of a great many people, and it wasn't right of me to put my friend's life in front of theirs. Your hatred, and everyone else's hatred, is rightly placed upon me."

Akite shook his head violently as he tightened his eyes. "No! In that situation, only a heartless person would have chosen anything other than what you did! You tried to protect someone you love... their shouldn't be anything wrong with that."

Toshiro's empty eyes stared down at the teenager. "But there is."

Those were the only words he could manage to speak before he first noticed the rocks that were flying through the air. Before long, he began to see arrows shot from a great distance, and knew he had been located. The villagers would catch up to him any moment.

Akite didn't fail to notice the danger either. He gripped the other soul reaper's wrist tighter and looked up at him again, his eyes passing over the large amount of blood that soaked the boy's clothes.

"Please, I'll... I'll talk sense into them. Come with me, and tell them the truth, I'll make them understand!"

Toshiro shook his head as he looked over to the street with growing anxiety. "No. They'll kill you if you try to defend me."

Footsteps could be heard turning the corner as Akite pleaded with him.

"But we have to make them see the truth! You're not-"

The teenager's voice died out as his eyes widened. Toshiro gave a grunt of frustration as the soul reaper fell forward, blood spreading from where a rock hit the back of his head. Running towards them, men from the village yelled to eachother, crude weapons in their hands.

Clenching his teeth, Toshiro turned to shunpo away, but paused for a moment as he looked down at Akite's limp body. He found himself respecting the teenager for his strong belief in knowing the truth, and was touched by the boy's compassion. If Toshiro left him there, the villagers might think he had helped him, and then they would kill him. The boy tightened his fist. He didn't want to have to get other people involved in his personal matters.

As the men were nearly upon him, Toshiro made a split second decision and shunpoed towards the fallen zanpaktou. He scooped it up, and then picked up the unconscious Akite onto his back. With one last quick glance towards the oncoming men, he once again shunpoed away, this time into the nearby forest, where he could make his refuge.

**Whoo... that was long. I originally intended for the part with Akite to be separated between two chapters, but I figured I owed you guys. So, here you go, an entire, 2500-some word chapter, just my present to you (also for some reason today writing is very easy).**

**I hope you enjoyed it (if you even remember what's going on) and please review me... though I suppose I probably don't deserve it... heh. I'll try to update again within a month, guys... thank you for your patience.**

**I wonder what my Twin's reaction to this will be...**


	12. Chapter 12

**I have returned once more :) Please do excuse my sporadic updates. I think pretty soon I need to stop apologizing and just accept it. But my art and my original characters have given me a break for a little while so I found myself thinking about Toshiro... and hence, I update. I sincerely hope this happens more often in the future.**

**So, who's caught up in the Bleach manga? Trust me, I haven't fallen behind in that for a moment. Who likes Toshiro's new look? (excuse me if I may have spoiled something...) I think it's pretty funny that his hairstyle is pretty much back to the way it was when he was little, haha he regressed! I find that very entertaining... But these Fullbring people are full of goo. Except Yukio, who I do kinda like... But everyone else is full of goo, especially Riruka and Ginjo (AKA Ghetto Aizen) What does everyone else think? (assuming you're caught up)**

**Well here is the absurdly long waited for chapter... I hope it proves to be interesting, and nobody feels an overwhelming hatred for Akite (like I do... … kinda) and doesn't mind him much... cuz he still has quite a role to play, though I hope to be rid of him soon... enjoy!**

Momo's eyes flickered around the woods in increasing anxiety. Clutching Toshiro's zanpaktou, she searched desperately for any sign of his presence, her worries intensifying as she could find no evidence of his being. She had been on edge with worry ever since his exile, and she now found herself trembling with concern over a situation that could easily be a trifling matter. Nevertheless, Toshiro going anywhere without his zanpaktou in the state he's been in in the past few weeks was something she could use to justify her worries. He wouldn't be so careless.

The small girl kept her ears and eyes wide open as she searched in the growing darkness, slowly realizing that she had no direction and was now searching aimlessly. Biting her lip restlessly, she turned the other way and worked her path through the thick bushes. Out of any better options, the girl turned back and followed a slight trail of spiritual pressure she had left to guide her way back to Toshiro's makeshift camp. While she couldn't placate her irritated nerves, she decided it would be best to return before it got too dark.

Traveling through the brush, she dwelled upon her friends situation, and mourned the fact that he had to live in such conditions. If it wasn't enough that he was exiled, he couldn't even go to live with his grandmother or even in a proper shelter. The threat of the Rukongai citizens made him unable to stay in one place for very long, even if he was fortunate enough to come across a habitable abandoned building near the forest. With little to no possible resolution to his situation, Momo could only hope to wait for the souls of the Soul Society to calm down and eventually forget the matter, and Toshiro could live in peace. This she hoped for desperately.

Finally reaching the clearing were Toshiro camped, she leaned against a thick tree, staring solemnly at the forest floor. Her anxiety and sorrow that she felt over her dear friend's condition never seemed to cease stressing her.

A soft rustle of leaves brought her head up with a start. Momo took in a short breath in surprise as a looming form entered the clearing in a slow, lurching pace, the darkness of the night shadowing its identity.

Her alert immediately faded, however, when she realized the figure was Toshiro, limping heavily into the clearing as he held a slack body over his back.

"Shiro...! What..?" She rushed to him as he stumbled slightly, as his weary eyes met hers in mild surprise.

"Momo..." he muttered weakly. Having reaching his destination, the boy shuddered as he let the soul reaper on his shoulders slip to the ground, and he himself had to sit and lean against a tree, breathing unevenly.

"What... what in the world happened?" Momo's eyes turned frantic as she began to see the amount of blood covering his face and body, and the large source of blood coming from the open wound in his shoulder. She hardly even noticed the other boy her friend had brought with him.

Toshiro quickly covered the wound with his hand and looked away, too physically and mentally exhausted from the past several hours of abuse to be able to utter a word.

"Toshiro..." Her voice almost came as a moan as her friend ignored her, and she mourned his coldness. Swallowing bile, she searched for some cloth and, upon finding some, futilely attempted to wipe away some of the layers of blood from his face. "You... you left behind your zanpaktou. I was worried..."

She sighed when the boy only tightly closed his eyes in response, not deigning to answer her and his expression closed as he fought back weariness. Finally recognizing the extent of his exhaustion, the girl relented and softened her expression, no longer desiring to press her friend any further on that matter.

"Will you at least tell me who this is?" She asked softly, indicating to the unconscious teenager Toshiro had been carrying.

"He... he protected me..." The small boy managed with difficulty, forcing his eyelids open to look at his childhood friend. "I... he..." With a cough, the boy gave up, and passed out, the beatings he received from the villagers fully taking their tool.

Momo stared worriedly at her now unconscious friend, and then glanced at the other boy, mistrustful. With a tight frown, the girl gently leaned Toshiro onto the ground, and fetched a pillow from his bundle of belongings. Once she was sure he was comfortable, she turned to Akite, hesitant and unsure.

Mustering up her will, the girl knelt by the boy and nudged him, staring at him intently. She was about to give up on trying to wake the boy up when he stirred slightly, his eyes tightening as he muttered a low groan. Still apprehensive, Momo inspected the soul reaper carefully, examining his thick, wavy brown hair and the blood that matted the back of his head.

Akite stirred slightly, and then opened his eyes hesitantly, finding himself meeting the anxious glare of the young girl by his side.

"I... what...?" The boy blinked a few times and stuttered as the girl next to him got her feet, standing before him with a melancholy air. Even though Toshiro had said the boy had protected him, she wouldn't let herself trust anyone she didn't know around her close friend.

Drawing her zanpaktou, she pointed it at Akite as the boy attempted to prop himself up on his elbows and gain an understanding of his situation.

"Who are you?" she demanded, surprising herself with the threatening tone of her voice.

Akite blinked again several times, trying to clear his head of the nausea that rolled through his head injury. His mind felt like it wandered away from him, and his thoughts were hard to differentiate as he attempted to seize clarity. All he could gather was the fact that a young girl in a soul reaper's uniform with a lieutenant's badge was pointing her sword at him.

The boy was fairly sure this form of circumstance should be a stimulant of concern, but he still couldn't quite grasp the situation. Still attempting to form thoughts, he fought to remember what had happened, ignoring the girl in front of him.

With a small jolt, the boy turned his head suddenly searching the clearing. When he finally caught sight of Toshiro, unconscious but still covered in his own blood, the older boy took a long breath, slowly wrapping his mind around the situation.

"I asked you a question. Who are you?" Momo pressed, this time struggling to sound threatening against her nature.

Akite turned to her slowly and looked her over more carefully. Upon closer inspection of her lieutenant's badge, he recognized her as the lieutenant of squad five, and felt a press of confusion at her presence.

"I... my name is Akite." The boy responded, stuttering slightly over his words as he stared at the long zanpaktou pointed at him.

"... And what are you doing with Toshiro?" The girl continued, trying to hide the hints of worry and care that crept into her voice whenever she mentioned her friend's name.

"I... well..." Akite's studied the ground, his eyebrows knitted together. "... I just... I wanted to know the truth."

Momo blinked, staring at him cautiously. Instead of asking for more details, however, she pressed on to a different problem.

"Why is he covered in blood?"

Akite looked up at her, his expression changing into one of more pain. "I'm sorry... It was... the villagers. I should've done something... and stopped them... but I didn't realize..." The boy buried his head in his hands, hiding his face from her as he remembered the expressions of the people he had grown up around twisting in hate and spite.

"...The villagers...?" She stared at the boy, her face set with skepticism. "There's no way they could've captured him. Never."

"He wouldn't protect himself. I too have no doubt he could've killed them all in only an instant, but he just let them do what they wanted. If he hadn't escaped, they would've killed him tomorrow, or maybe even earlier."

Momo lowered her blade slightly. Despite what she wanted to believe, that did sound like something Toshiro would do in that situation.

She let her blade rest by her side. "So then, how did you get involved?"

Looking at her once more, Akite hesitantly continued. "I... I confronted him." He struggled with his words, desperately trying to avoid betraying the emotions he felt. "He killed my best friend... and he very nearly killed me. I thought I should hate him."

Momo looked him over silently, her stomach sinking as she realized the relationship between the two boys.

"But for some reason I couldn't. I didn't understand why... So I decided I wanted to know the truth, and I asked him. He wouldn't tell me any details, and the next thing I knew I had been knocked unconscious." The boy once more turned his eyes to the forest floor. "Really. All I want to know is what really happened... Why Kana had to die..."

Studying him, the girl dropped to her knees, joining the boy on eye level.

"I... I'm sorry."

Akite looked up at her again, this time it was he who studied her expression. "He did tell me he was protecting someone precious to him... was that person...?"

Her thick bangs covered her eyes as the girl gave a small nod, her expression unreadable.

Eyes widening slowly, unexpected emotions filled him. Realizing that the person in front of him was one of the main reasons Kana had been killed.

With great efforts to restrain his feelings of rage, the boy trembled as he tried to speak.

"So then... can you tell me... why.."

"No."

Momo stared at him solemnly, feeling the weight of her own guilt for her involvement in the matter as she spoke. "I think you have a right to know... but I can't let myself without talking to Toshiro first. In fact, he should be the one to tell you, but I think talking about it would hurt him far too much. But still, I need to tell him first."

Akite stared at her, his expression mixed between great sadness, pain, and anger. In that moment, the only he could bring himself to do was give a slow nod before he enfolded himself into his own thoughts, trying to sort out the influx of emotions that had overcome him.

Understanding the boy's position, Momo stood, trying to push away her own conflicting feelings. Her head spud slightly and she felt sick as she contemplated what it was that had been done for her sake. A horrible feeling of guilt and unworthiness inundated her upon thinking of all the lives that had been lost because of her.

With a sickening sensation, she began to realize how terrible it must feel for Toshiro, the one whose hands were directly stained with the blood of all those innocent people.

* * *

A lone man stood in the middle of a thick forest, his face strained upwards to the light of the moon. His head was covered in a shroud of shaggy brown hair, hair that had grown longer and draped into his face from months of neglect, and eyes that too were hidden behind the thick locks.

"_It's coming." _The man whispered, his voice hoarse and eerie as he stared at the dark night sky.

"_It's coming..." _A small smile hinted itself at the corners of the man's mouth as he repeated the phrase to himself.

A familiar feeling rose in his chest, and blood rushed to his head in excitement as he realized his opportunity. The opportunity to fulfill some of his insatiable blood lust.

"_It's coming..." _The man could practically taste the excitement in his mouth, and the giddy feeling enveloped him as his imagination took him away with the possibilities.

But no. No. He sighed. A bitter smile reached his lips. He chided himself gently. The man knew he couldn't let enjoy himself too much all at once.

No. He would have to drag it out. Then, and only then, would he get the fullest of his revenge. The man rushed once more with excitement as he anticipated the satisfaction he would feel.

Such satisfaction. To hear that scream.

How he longed to hear that scream.

He would get his fill. He would be sure. He would get to hear that scream, that thrill of agony, until the boy could scream no more. Until every tiniest bit of spirit and hope that the boy possessed had fallen at his hands.

Then, he could rest. Then he would be done.

But it would never end for the boy. He would make sure of that. Never.

The boy would pay.

It would never be over.

"_It's coming..."_

He would take full advantage of his revenge.

"_It's coming..."_

A wild grin crossed Aizen's face.

"_A STORM IS COMING."_

**It's gonna rain cats and dogs! It'll be a downpour of irresistible fluffiness! Nobody will be able to escape the incapacitating fangs of ADORABLENESS. Resistance is futile. You will fall to the storm of fluffy cats and dogs. Be prepared. A storm is coming. Of fluffiness. Ha. Toshiro will never survive.**

**Haha, now I'm making fun of my own story. I'm actually rather creeped out by the end of this chapter, so I had to add something ridiculous so I'll be able to sleep tonight instead of continuing to freak myself out with creeper men vowing bloodthirsty vengeance. Urg. That's weird.**

**But, I felt that I need to set the tone for some upcoming excitement, and I think I've done so very well. Aizen is such a creep. Not to mention insane. Yeah. If I ever finish this story... you'll see how important that little unintended segment is. Or I guess it's just senseless foreshadowing of doom. Lotsa doom. I like doom. **

**Well, I shall attempt to update as soon as possible, but we all know the likelihood of that being anytime soon... (sigh) . No really, I'll try. I just wanna get to the good stuff so badly and I'm stuck in this sewer of story development GOO. Poo. I'll try, guys. **

**Any comments you have are always appreciated. Support to get me motivated is highly effective to the status of interest this story holds in my mind... **


	13. Chapter 13

**And... somehow, I'm updating within... what? Two weeks, I think? Wow. I am impressed. (I shudder at the thought that I used to update twice a week). This is very strange... hmmm...**

**It was quite depressing, however, when I looked over the number reviews I got for my last chapter... Though, I shouldn't complain. No. I won't complain. It's really my fault after all. Yeah. So thank you to everyone who reviewed me, I appreciate it immensely. **

**And many thanks to Icedragonshiki for lending me your ear :)**

It was dark. Everything was dark. Dark, and empty, without a single sign of life or hope. He turned his head, but there was nothing to see. Only silence, and darkness.

He breathed unsteadily, nervously try to see the slightest thing. Each breath he took became harder and harder to fit through his throat, as though the very air was becoming heavy around him, and the darkness had begun to close in on him.

It was like drowning, slowly falling into the dark embrace of the shadows, unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to feel anything but fear, fear of the unknown, fear as he realized there was only one thing around him, and that thing was killing him.

Slowly... slowly dragging him under, dulling his senses, pulling him through the sheet of darkness and into oblivion.

Everything, every thought, movement, or feeling was clouded in the empty darkness as he sank through the abyss. There was no end, no surface to break through the chasm.

It suffocated him. It engulfed everything in silence.

Silence, and despair.

It was in such a state that Toshiro slowly awoke. It took what felt like eons for him to place reality as he woke from his slumber, his dream still clouding his consciousness and forcing him to struggle to break away from it's melancholy hold. He found himself not entirely sure whether or not he was still drowning in darkness, or if he was coming into reality. Everything was hazy and unclear, as if still muffled and held by the imposing darkness he had seen in his dream.

"Lil Shiro?"

Momo's voice. The world began to draw him back into reality as she softly called his name. With a slight wince, he opened his eyes to the bright forest, pulling apart his heavy eyelids with much difficulty.

Momo was leaning over him, her hand on his forehead as she gently nudged him awake.

"Hey," she breathed, "you okay?"

He blinked a few times before raising his hand to rub his sore head, his temple throbbing. He then noticed the lack of blood caked onto his skin that had been there before.

"Momo... Did you heal me..?" He asked slowly, after taking a moment to find his voice.

The girl gave a small nod. "You've been hurt pretty badly..." She let her sentence lay incomplete, and watched her friend's features carefully. His eyes turned from hers and he sat up, testing how his body responded, still absorbed in the melancholy of his dream.

Over the past few months, most of the dreams he'd had were frightful and terrifying, and they shot him of slumber in a panic. He had only had a few that were like this one, with silence and darkness, and fear rising only from the nothingness.

He wasn't entirely sure which one was worse. Chills still sent shivers down his spine as he tried to block out its disturbing memory.

"Lil Shiro..?"

He looked up again and Momo, who was gazing at him, concern in her eyes.

"It's fine," the boy mumbled with a long breath, moving to stand up. "Thank you for healing me, Momo"

The girl stared up at him, trying to conceal her pain at his stoicism. After all this, she wondered, how is it possible that he's more miserable than ever, yet he still refused to ever tell her what happened to him? It remained a mystery to her, but she could not bear to press him, not when there was so little of him she understood.

Toshiro, after a small challenge in balancing himself, stood, and looked around the clearing. It took only a moment for him to sight what he was looking for: the teenage boy who stared at him with dark eyes from across the clearing.

Without a word, the small boy's eyes tightened and he walked forward, stepping past the other boy and into the bushes, and continued until he reached the small river nearby. Akite silently took the cue and stood, following Toshiro out to the river.

Momo sat alone by the tree where she had cared for her precious friend, her heart heavy as she watched the two walk away, but did not follow, knowing but despairing Toshiro's reluctance to involve her in anything.

"You still want to know?" Toshiro asked when Akite joined him by the river, after he had sat down on the pebbled shore.

Akite strode towards the boy, his gaze never leaving the back of the small soul reaper's head.

"Now more than ever." He responded quietly, his eyes bearing a mixture of sadness, determination, and anger.

Turning his head, Toshiro looked at the other boy out of the corner of his eye. "What did Momo tell you?"

"Only that it wasn't her place to tell your story." Came Akite's answer, and the boy cleared the distance between he and Toshiro, seating himself next to the other boy on the shore. "I still want the truth, even if it's hard for you to talk about it... I need to know."

Toshiro looked the teen over carefully, scrutinizing his behavior. It took only a moment for the boy to tear his gaze away, suddenly feeling the pressure of his guilt.

"You may say that, but I doubt you'll like the truth. Either way, your friend was still murdered, whether see it as if it was by my hands, or by Aizen's." Toshiro said slowly, hating the feeling of his nemesis' name on his tongue.

"I didn't say anything about liking it or not. I just want the truth."

The boy was quiet for a while, staring at the depths of the running river, mulling the teen's request over in his head. It was hard enough for him to just think about anything that had happened over the past months, much less talk about it. Just a passing memory of Aizen, and of the torture he received from Aizen, made his stomach lurch and made him taste bile as his scars would momentarily sear with the pain of his memory. The last thing Toshiro wanted to do was talk about it in detail.

But Akite had an undeniable right to know. Toshiro couldn't argue that. Despite his misgivings, it was only just that the boy hear the story. And that he hear it from him.

Toshiro glared into the water for a moment, and then took a slow breath. His throat tight, he then hid his heart, doing the only thing he could to close away his tumultuous emotions. He fixed his gaze at the following water and began his narrative in a flat voice.

**Hmph. Short chapter is short. I'm sorry it's so short. I have the motivation to write more, but not the time... and I think this is a good point to leave off... sorry if nothing really happened. I feel like this is very boring right now (cries)... but, don't worry, very soon... very soon indeed... bad stuff happens, and all this doom and stuff. Lotsa doom and stuff. And getting rid of these OC's. I can't wait to be rid of them... **

**Anyway, I had quite an inner debate about whether or not I was going to actually write out Toshiro telling Akite what happened to him. I don't think it would've been a bad thing to do, but I think I would've gotten carried away with the details (as I usually do), especially since Toshiro wouldn't give very many details in his position. So I think I'm just gonna skip over the description part, and that's why I ended the chapter where I did. **

**I think next chapter I'll be able to wrap up the story-connection-development-goo and then the chapter after that I'll finally get to some good stuff... heh heh.**

**So, hopefully I'll update soon. I fully intend to. I would continue writing right away, but I've got to make a t-shirt for tomorrow, and then I hope to learn a new song on the piano, but I think I might just work on this instead. Please review me!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Wait... what... what is this...? I-I-I'm actually updating so soon? Within a week? Wha-what is this...?I don't know... I don't know anything anymore... I'm losing track of reality...ahhhhh... This is very strange. I'm actually updating. (Is in shock) … and... I'm actually excited to write the next few chapters... what is thiisssss...? **

**Don... Don't get your hopes up. Don't you look at me like that...! This doesn't mean this update streak will last! Don't get excited and then have me crush all your hopes and dreams! I don't want to do that! … I honestly have no idea how long this is going to last, but I don't think I trust myself to continue it regularly for a long time again... I don't know... I don't know..!**

**Well, let's hope for the best...**

**...Though... I must admit... I sorely miss having around ten reviews every chapter... I must've been dreadfully spoiled and forgotten what it was like to... Not. Have. That. It's sad... I miss my fans... ccoommmmeeee backk toooo meeee...!.. I neeeeeddd yooouuuuuu! (cries)**

**Okay. I need to stop being selfish... this is my eternal punishment (of doom) for abandoning Toshiro for so much time... I... I'm a horrible person... yeah. It's really my fault. Yeah.. (sobs)**

**Please.. enjoy the chapter... lotsa doom and stuff is coming... I can't wait...**

A small boy stared into the water, watching carefully as the force of the stream pulled one pebble after another off the shore, all the while bring other pebbles back to take their place.

"And it was as I told you. Either I would swear undying loyalty to Aizen, or they would continue... continue as they tortured her." The boy couldn't take his eyes away from the water as he recalled his story to the older-looking boy by his side. "... And so, I gave in. I couldn't stand watching him hurt her... I swore myself to Aizen, hoping in doing so I could save her.

"I guess that, at the time, I didn't fully think through everything that Aizen could do. At least, I didn't think he would use me to wreak unnecessary, pointless cruelty. But the first thing he had me do was find one innocent family in the Rukongai and kill them." The boy didn't draw his eyes away from the water. He didn't move a muscle as he recounted the events, and his voice remained flat and monotone. He simple spoke of his experience as though he were reading it from a book, and, in his mind, pretended that what he spoke of wasn't his own past, but just some story he had heard. If he did otherwise, actually recalling, remembering people's faces as he killed them, remembering Aizen as he was tortured by him, and remembering all the pain he had gone through, would've been far too much for him to handle. At that point, it was much easier to block out any emotional attachment to the story he spoke of.

"I could've either let Aizen continue hurting Hinamori, or killed that family. I chose to become a murderer, and I did.

"After that, Aizen continued to have me attack villages, and kill innocent people. When I failed to do exactly what he wanted, he punished me... or he punished Hinamori... he even forced Hinamori to punish me once... and so it continued. He kept pushing me, and I kept on murdering innocent people, all for the sake of one." The boy left out all of the emotional turmoil he had experienced, and everything that had happened between him and Ukitake. He wasn't willing to share every detail.

Akite stared at the boy in front of him, his expression set in a grimace, but he remained silent.

"Then, he had me kill my lieutenant, Matsumoto." Toshiro felt his stomach lurch as the memory tried to creep into his mind. Clenching his teeth, the boy steadied himself and forced himself to remain impassive.

"It was only an illusion, but I had no idea. I killed her, fully believing that it was her I was killing. After that, everything was a little hazy. It seemed Aizen found out about my zanpaktou being able do release his weapon, the Hogyoku. Because of that, I became of more value to him, and he stopped having me attack the Soul Society.

"Then the Seireitei sent out a search party for me into Hueco Mundo, including the Substitute Soul Reaper. Before Aizen was able to get me to release the Hogyoku, they got me out of Las Noches... and then, this big battle started.

"I fought Aizen. I had come back to my senses a little bit, and I wanted nothing more than to kill him. But I was hopelessly outmatched, no matter how much I hated him, he was too strong for me, and tried once again to get me to open the Hogyoku." A pebble was pulled loose, and it was washed away by the current. Another soon replaced its spot. Again, one was pulled loose. Toshiro stared at the pebbles, ignoring the words as they came from his mouth.

"I tried to refuse, but then I started to think about the Hogyoku. I had felt its power from trying to release it, and I knew it's immense energy. As a last effort, I released the Hogyoku into Aizen, as he so wished, and it engulfed him. It devoured him, and the power didn't accept him as a strong enough vessel. It was destroyed, along with most of Aizen's spiritual pressure, and his zanpaktou.

"Aizen couldn't handle that. He had always held himself in the highest regard of power, and didn't believe himself capable of being defeated, much less by his own arrogance. The realization, the very thought that he wasn't all that he had though himself to be, and that he was now almost powerless drove him mad. So he swore vengeance on me and vanished."

"Ai-" Akite's eyes grew wide. "Aizen's still alive?"

Toshiro closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "And since then, I was exiled form the Seireitei. They didn't execute me because they didn't know how Aizen would react, they were too worried he would simply wreak havoc upon the soul society. Instead, they banished me here, were Aizen can chase me to his heart's content and they don't have to worry about him endangering in the Seireitei."

The two of them fell into silence. Akite looked over the other soul reaper's distant expression before turning away to also gaze into the depths of the small river.

"I... I'm sorry-"

"I don't want your pity." Toshiro rose, turning back towards the forest as he concluded their conversation, "You asked me to tell you what happened so you could understand why your friend was killed. Now all that's left is for you decide whether or not you want to kill me."

Akite stared at him, his eyes alert. "It's the same as I said before. You're not to blame... it's this …Aizen who's guilty. Even more so because of everything he's done to you."

Toshiro, still facing away from the other boy, stood staring into the forest, contemplating.

"But I still made that decision. I still chose the life of my friend over hundred's of innocent people's."

"You shouldnt've had to make a decision like that in the first place!" Akite stood, staring fiercely at the turned back of the much shorter soul reaper.

"..." Without any words to rebuke the teenager, Toshiro found himself fighting silence.

"Everyone in the village has no idea just how wrong they are to hate you," Akite continued, "You should know that, and protect yourself from them!"

"They have every right to hate me..." Toshiro murmured, unable to raise his voice to a convincing level. He could feel his heart sinking.

"No. No they don't." Grimacing, Akite walked closer to the small boy, his being set with complete determination. "If you do anything to protect yourself, and get them to understand all the circumstances, then I will!"

Toshiro whirled around at him, his eyes wide.

"...No..!"

Without acknowledging him, Akite walked past the ex-captain, his fists clenched at his sides and his eyes resolute.

"Are you mad?" Toshiro exclaimed, "They won't be reasonable, nor should they be! Try to defend me and they'll destroy you!"

This time it was Akite who turned on him, a sense of justice burning in him. "Then that's just too bad! I want the true culprit of everyone's murder brought to retribution, and I doubt I'm the only one who wouldn't want someone innocent to be punished for it! Without Kana, what is there for me anyway? I've got nothing better to do with my life, I might as well stand up for someone who's too thickheaded and idiotic to do it for himself!"

That was all it took to render Toshiro Hitsugaya speechless. He paused, blinking and unable to rebuke, while Akite stormed away, though the underbrush and back to the village.

If he had received such an insult about his stubbornness and idiocy surrounding this matter from someone else he knew, the substitute shinigami being a prime example, he would've taken it with pure annoyance and brushed it aside. But to hear this from somebody outside, somebody who hardly knew him and yet wanted to defend him, hit Toshiro with an unexpectedly strong force.

Toshiro fiercely blamed himself for everything he had done to the people of the Rokungai. His conscious plagued him constantly, and he fully believed the weight of all the deaths of innocent people belonged only on his shoulders. When the villagers attacked him, he didn't have the heart to fight back in the least, especially when he believed he fully deserved it. It was almost inherent in his nature to force himself to take the blame for everything that happened to people around him, especially actions brought on by Aizen. He simply could not believe that anyone should forgive him.

The boy sank to his knees on the rocky shore. It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense in the least.

But couldn't stop him. He couldnt've stopped Akite from going, from leaving to do something so foolish.

The boy slumped, burying his head in his hands.

Foolish. The teen was foolish.

Foolish. Foolish.

Who was it that was being foolish?

Toshiro trembled slightly. He couldn't tell anymore.

* * *

It was, once more, that the aforementioned substitute shinigami stared at the large pile of books on his desk with growing irritation.

Being the end of the school year, all the work still piled on top of him, and held the teenager to his seat like a monster forcing him into unsavory turmoil. Ichigo had stared at schoolwork for far too many hours on end the past two weeks, and was ready for it to be over.

Only one more week.

Ichigo stared out his window, longing to be away from the mountain of work that sat in front of him. How he wished being a substitute shinigami exempted him from any and all schoolwork. He didn't have time to struggle with formulas and rules while Hollows constantly appeared in the city, requiring immediate extermination.

This was ridiculous. He had more important things to handle. Standing from his worn seat and stretching his stiff legs, the teenager searched his mind for a reasonable excuse to escape from his work.

His eyes brightened. He hadn't visited Toshiro in a while. With a sly smile, Ichigo grabbed his shinigami badge and left the house, heading for the senkaimon gate Urahara usually had at the ready in his shop for him.

Though visiting the dejected ex-captain usually set Ichigo's mood on edge, due to the mounting concern he held for the young soul reaper's emotional state, he usually enjoyed the kid's company. Toshiro was unreasonably stubborn in almost every matter imaginable, but he always had an interesting opinion on things. However, the misfortune that had befallen the soul reaper made him far less receptive to conversation, and most of their discussions remained one-sided.

But, for Ichigo, that was okay. If, perhaps, the conversation and the company helped Toshiro in some way, then it was worth it.

Lost in his thoughts, Ichigo hardly noticed when he reached Urahara's shop. He entered the building, announcing himself as he did so.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun..." Urahara himself appeared around the corner, his striped hat customarily falling too low across his eyes.

"Hey, Urahara, how's it going?" The teen asked as he walked deeper into the store.

The shopkeeper grinned mysteriously. "We're actually packing up to go on a trip right now... though I assume you came to use the senkaimon?"

Ichigo nodded. He didn't question Urahara's motives for suddenly leaving to go on vacation, or a trip, or whatever. Nothing important had been happening recently, and it fit their eccentric behavior.

With a cheerful grin, Urahara led the substitute soul reaper down to the secret lower levels of the building, and then to the room where he had the gate ready.

"So we probably won't be here when ya come back, but you'll probably be able to get out of here."

"Yeah. Thanks." Ichigo said with another nod.

"See ya later then."

With one last appreciatory glance, Ichigo left the world of the living and directly entered the soul society.

As he entered the Seireitei, the teen looked up at the dark, cloudy sky, and frowned slightly.

It looked like there would be a storm.

**As I mentioned before... raining cats and dogs... downpours of adorableness... bwahahaha...**

**I-I think I'm finally getting to the good stuff... GASP! .. I... I actually get to write about all that STUFF soon... ahhhhhwww I'm soo exciiteeddd... Will be such great fun... and doom and stuff. Yeah.**

**I've got a most atrocious AP physics test to study for tonight... I dread that test... so unprepared... so impossible to be prepared... argggg... I henceforth curse all laws of kinematics and gravitational pull into eternal doom. May they suffer for all time... bwaahahaha! (sulks away to study for test)**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and you look forward to the upcoming doom and stuff as much as I do. Please make me feel immense happiness and leave me a review...? Please...? I would really, really, REALLY appreciate it... what if I give you a imaginary cookie...? Ppplleeaaseee...?**

**And, of course, many most gracious thanks to those who have reviewed, and I'm always relieved to see my regular reviewers come back... I was worried for a while... I love you all very much and you get not just imaginary cookies, but imaginary CAKE. DELICIOUS CAKE!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay, this is ridiculous. Is anyone out there on the East coast and seeing this snow right now? New York here is getting drenched in it, and the roads are horrible... IT'S OCTOBER! WHAT IS THIS? I swear this is so weird... though I do love the snow so I'm thrilled and happy to see it again after such a long time, but still. This is just ridiculous. We're getting 5-8 inches and the flakes are the size of hail... everything is covered in white, and this is just crazy. I can't get over this... **

**But, otherwise, here's a nice new chapter for you all... though I don't know what in the world is going on with the first section of it... I totally had no intention of putting all of that in there, it just sorta happened... and took up space so I can't get to more of the good stuff until next chapter (cries) I hope this isn't too boring... next should be delicious. **

**But, enjoy!**

"Momo!" A voice rang, though muffled by the thinly falling rain. "Please! I'm fine."

The girl stood, unconvinced. "But, it really looks like it could be a bad storm..."

Toshiro grunted in annoyance. His friend had been pestering him for the past few hours.

"Look, I'll be perfectly fine, I can handle a little rain myself."

Standing in the mouth of a fairly sized cave, Momo looked the boy carefully, her expression set in concern. Due to the considerable rain, she had convinced him to find better shelter, but he only opted for a cave rather than find a discreet building he could hide out in.

"But you never know!" The girl persisted, "Sometimes a little storm will seem like only a light rain, but then, the next thing you know, it's a typhoon!" She threw her hands up for emphasis, imploring the boy to take better shelter.

"Enough, Momo!" the ex-captain's face was set with rage. "Would you stop babying me!"

The girl blinked. He glared at her for a moment, and then turned away and sulked deeper into the small cave, getting his few belongings organized. Ever since he had returned from his short discussion with the rukongai boy, she hadn't failed to notice Toshiro's change in demeanor. He sulked all the more, and the slightest bit of eye contact was hard to find. She had to bite back tears as she though of how he brushed her aside, refusing to open himself up and refusing to accept any care she offered to give him.

Everything was almost as if they hadn't been through such an ordeal together, something that she had once hoped might bring them closer together.

No. No, she realized. Since the boy had come into Aizen's hands, they had only grown further apart, as his mental state of anguish came far beyond what she could comprehend.

She could no longer understand him, and he longer wanted to be understood, or cared for by her.

Her hand tightened slightly. It was probably her fault. She was the one who couldn't get him right. He had done everything he could ever do for her, and yet she found herself unable to so much as safely get him into better shelter from a storm without upsetting him. He was falling apart and she couldn't even begin to know how to help him.

"... Momo...?"

She looked away from him, shaking away the few tears the rested in her eyes. Toshiro was looking at her carefully, taking a cautious step towards her.

"I...I'm sorry, Shiro... you're right." she struggled, "I should stop babying you, you can take care of yourself. I-I'll just go..."

"Momo..." The small soul reaper's expression had quickly changed from anger to a look of care. "I didn't mean..."

"It's okay... I'll just go." The girl cut off, shaking her head.

"Momo... I … t-thank you" Toshiro was surprised to find his voice so weak. "I know you're only looking out for me."

Momo looked up at him, slightly taken aback. He leaned against the cave wall and avoided her eyes, instead choosing to stare out at the falling rain, though his expression betrayed his insecurity at revealing such feelings.

"I just... I can really take care of myself, you know? I don't want you to worry about me so much, especially since you're a lieutenant and have duties to attend to."

She stared at him for a long time, sadness brimming her eyes. She wanted more than anything to be able to help him in return for all that he had done for her, and now he was asking her not to worry about him, and leave him alone.

No, she chided herself. She was being selfish. It was he who was looking after her, and she shouldn't go against him for that.

"O-okay, Shiro." She continued, a lump clogging her throat. "If you're sure you'll be fine... I'll go."

The boy looked at her carefully before slowly nodding.

Biting her lip, Momo turned to leave. It was only a few seconds, however, before she lost her false stoicism.

With a small whimper, the girl turned on him and threw her arms around her childhood friend as tightly as she could, and gave him a life-threatening bear hug, much to the latter's surprise.

"Please, Shiro... I just want you to be safe."

After momentarily struggling against the sudden force, Toshiro stopped for a moment and allowed the girl to embrace him.

"Really, Momo, you bed-wetter," he scolded with a sarcastic tone, "I'll be perfectly fine, now go and get your paperwork done."

The girl finally released him and backed away, an easy smile appearing across her face as the boy momentarily seemed to revert to his old self, minus the acceptance of the hug.

"Okay, I'll be sure to. And then I'll come and check in on you again, 'kay Shiro?"

The boy groaned dramatically. "Go on! Just get out of here! Take care of your work."

He turned away and backed into the cave as Momo gave one last grin before shunpoing into the dark rain.

Toshiro ran a hand through his silver hair distractedly as he sat in a far corner of the cave, his somewhat lighter mood from his interaction with Momo quickly fading The boy brought his knees to his chest as he tried not to think about the sorrowful expression Momo had given him.

He probably hurt her feelings. The boy groaned, burying his head in his knees. He was so tired of not knowing what to do.

After telling his tale to Akite, it had felt like all the energy was drained out of him, and he felt confused beyond recognition. He had tried everything possible to get Momo to leave him alone so he could just rest, impending storm or no. He was confused and exhausted, and wanted only to fall into a deep sleep, in hopes of forgetting the constant pain that lulled in the back of his head.

With a quiet groan, the boy took a few of his blankets and curled up by his pile of belongings, welcoming the comfort they gave and slowly willing himself asleep.

* * *

Akite wrung out his soaking shihakusho as he drip-dried, the rain taking its toll from his brisk walk through the forest to find his way back to the village. In all honesty, it took a while to figure out where he was before he could march his way back to the village, his rage still burning from the tale Hitsugaya had told him.

But by the time he had arrived in the village, the rain was pouring heavily and looked like it would become a bad storm. As determined as he was, everyone was already inside to wait out the storm, and he figured it would also be best to wait until after it to tell his tale to the people of the village.

The teen hung the soul reaper uniform over a pole by the warm fire as walked over to his small bed. Either way, it didn't matter. He would get the villagers to see the truth, even if it killed him. He couldn't stand seeing them hate the wrong person, a person who was only the victim.

He would get them to forgive him. He promised himself that he would, as he laid down on the small cot.

They would see the truth.

* * *

Terror gripped him.

Though the boy's eyes shot open in a flash, he was unable to see anything. Blood wavered in front of his eyes, and he couldn't imagine when or where he was as the boy struggled to his feet.

Fright burned in his frantic eyes. He had to get away.

Something was howling and screeching not far away. Something crashed, and a ceaseless pounding engulfed the boy's ears, both the pounding of his head, and that of the mysterious sounds around him that the boy was in no mental state to place.

Images of death still reeled through the small soul reaper's mind as he stumbled across the cave, and into the powerful storm that waged war with the earth outside. Toshiro was almost immediately drenched in water as soon as he stepped outside of the cave, and the pouring, pounding rain, the wind that howled that a hungry monster, and the crash of falling trees around him did nothing to help the small boy's confusion.

Terror once again gripped the boy as more images of blood flashed through his mind.

There was only death around him. It was the only thing he caused, the only thing he believed, the only thing that engulfed him.

Death.

_He had to get away._

His eyes frantic, the small, white haired boy bolted in fright, not knowing or caring of which way he was going, or the zanpaktou he left sitting with his pile of belongings in the cave.

Everything rushed by him in a blur. He couldn't feel his legs as he dashed deliriously through the forest, nor the rainwater on his face, nor the few trees that cracked under the pressure of the overpowering wind and fell around him.

Something was nearby. He could feel it. Something that made his heart race uncontrollably and his mind unable to think of anything except _run. Run. Get away. _

He was unable to place his fear, his mind was far too clouded in panic. All he could do was run. Run through the thick forest, through the trees, the bushes, into thorns and across newly made rivers of water that cascaded down the hill as the heavy rain defeated everything with its thunderous rage.

The soul reaper was unable to recognize anything but the horrible terror that gripped his heart, and forced him into flight.

Suddenly, however, he found himself sliding to a stop. Over the deafening power of the rain, the wind, and the trees, the boy could've sworn he'd heard something, something nobody else would've been able to hear in his place. A sound meant just for him.

A low chuckle rose from somewhere in the deep forest, and the small's boy's eyes widened in fear.

Only one coherent thought then entered his mind, and froze his soul with absolute terror.

Aizen.

**And then the world exploded. Bwahahaaa... I'm gonna have so much fun with the next few chapters... I hope this one was to everyone's liking. Upon re-reading it... I think it was pretty good... Though it might be unclear to some people, but Toshiro was originally panicking because other one of his dreams... and then he felt Aizen's presence and then everything just went downhill from there. And next... bad stuff happens... and then some stuff. And then DOOM. Yeah. Lotsa doom involved. **

**This. Snow. is. Ridiculous. …. awesome... but ridiculous... geez.**

**So I think that, since I'm a horrible person and I've never done this before and my readers deserve it... I will reply to anyone who gives a review on this chapter before the next one comes out (which probably won't be for about another week or so.) I really don't know why I don't regularly reply to people... it's mostly just my horrible-person-ness. And to anyone who is a regular reviewer, heh heh, maybe I'll try to respond to all of your reviews at once BWAHAH...even though that's almost impossible... ahhh oh well.. Review me please! And you'll get a reply! (and say something interesting, so I don't have to just respond with a boring "thanks")**

**I'll update soon! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**I have no comment... it's been five months, guys, I'm sorry...**

Panic struck the small soul reaper harder that the sheets of rain that stormed around him, or the lighting that sporadically sliced across the sky. The pain that thundered in the back of his skull ever since he had awoken from another nightmare sharpened, and his wide eyes ceaselessly darted around the forest, trying to catch sight of his pursuer through the blinding rain.

Another small chuckle resounded, this time from the opposite direction than the last. Toshiro spun, searching desperately, his breath coming shorter and more rapidly than ever before as he felt around with his spiritual pressure.

The boy choked with fear. He was nearby. Closer and stronger than the boy had ever felt in his nemesis' spiritual pressure since his exile.

It was deadly. Pure blood lust. It was simple, pure longing for sadistic pleasure.

It was terrifying.

Reason left him. Wild with terror, Toshiro bolted, speeding into the nearby thicket. He no longer had a mind of where he was going, or what he was doing. Blind with fear, the boy ran, through bushes and streams and over rocks and stumps, with the storm pounding around him, and the now ever-present spiritual pressure of Sousuke Aizen engulfing him.

Only one thought coursed through his mind and body; one memory. Aizen, with his horrendous black weapon, bringing it to his neck, and all the pain and torture he had endured under the man's cruel hand.

The very thought of that past, its very memory, made the boy's body sear with pain. Every place that had been struck by that weapon once again felt its agony.

Stumbling in shock, the boy collapsed. He slipped over the muddy ground, and tumbled and slid across a small clearing, until he stopped, trembling, frozen in fear and pain.

He looked around, desperately and frightfully searching for Aizen, irrational and terrified as he felt the monster's presence drawing closer yet.

* * *

Ichigo covered his eyes from the pouring rain as he tried to search the wood, a long, purple-sheathed zanpaktou in hand. The storm was frightful, and not finding Toshiro in the small cave where Hinamori had said he would be was worrying the substitute shinigami, who had just arrived in the soul society and was looking for the young boy.

Despite the grief he would get from the ex-captain later over this, Ichigo just couldn't help feeling concerned. Something just felt wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something made him feel apprehensive, and that drove him to search for the young boy. He had even brought Hyourinmaru with him, after seeing it left alone in the cave, out of worry for the unarmed soul reaper.

The substitute soul reaper wandered through the thick forest, eventually calling his friend's name, hoping for any sign of his location. It had already been almost half an hour and it seemed hopeless that he would ever find the boy in such a storm. Nevertheless, the teenager searched, stubbornly concerned and determined.

A small crash, unlike the strike of thunder or the breaking of trees resounded nearby. Listening, Ichigo stopped, and turned in its direction.

Ichigo couldn't sense spiritual pressure, no matter how many times in his career as a shinigami that he'd tried, but, as a warrior, he could certainly feel the danger from a nearby, hostile energy in the air. His expression tight with worry, went after the sound, hoping to find some sign of his unarmed friend.

Pushing through a thicket, Ichigo finally reached a small clearing, and with some difficulty, pulled himself out of the bushes.

Suddenly he saw the boy, staring, wide-eyed, at him from the middle of the clearing.

"To-Toshiro?" Ichigo blinked.

The boy's eyes weren't just wide, they were panic-stricken. His breath came ragged, almost on the verge of hyperventilation, and he trembled violently, whether from the cold or from terror Ichigo couldn't tell. He was covered in mud, and his hair was tangled, but the boy didn't just look scared.

If anything, he looked to be almost on the verge of madness.

Ichigo straightened, staring at the shivering soul reaper with apprehension.

"Toshiro... what are doing?"

The boy blinked, disoriented. Stepping carefully towards him, the pouring rain no longer seemed to matter as Ichigo approached the stricken soul reaper. When he drew near, Toshiro tried to take a step back, stumbled, and slipped to the ground, where he stared, confused and terrified at the approaching soul reaper.

Ichigo squatted to eye level with the boy, and, trying to remain as absolutely calm as possible, stared at the boy, and spoke softly.

"Toshiro, it's just me. It's Ichigo. It's okay."

He blinked again, and though his eyes were still wide, his breathing seemed to steady slightly.

"I-Ichigo..."

Suddenly, the boy's eyes fluttered, and he collapsed, unconscious.

Ichigo started, and he quickly moved toward the boy, bringing a hand to his forehead.

Through the chilly, slick rain, Toshiro's skin burned with a high fever, and he still shook violently with pain.

* * *

A lone man stood silently in the center of the village, the wild storm blowing all around him. His dirty, tangled dark brown hair fell across his face as it was buffeted by the wind, and his torn and disheveled clothing were soaked through.

The man caressed the newly-made sword in his hand, admiring his fine work. All of his patience would now pay off. All of his self- restraint, and all of his hard work could now come into fruition.

His vengeance would be sweet. He shuddered with excitement at the thought of it. His imagination soared with all the possibilities.

He would destroy the boy. The one who took everything from him. Everything he had ever wanted and believed in was taken from him, and his own pride and dignity was crushed underfoot.

He couldn't get any of that back. The only thing that mattered anymore was his revenge.

And, he thought as he stared down at his new weapon, what a sweet revenge it would be.

He could hardly contain himself.

And now...

He grinned as he stared at the Rokungai village homes around him, where people were sheltered from the storm.

Now it begins.

* * *

Ichigo laid the shivering soul reaper down on the hard wood surface as gently as he could, and had to suppress a few shivers of his own as he searched for anything to warm up with.

The small, abandoned shack that Ichigo found proved to be less that helpful. The roof leaked and there was next to nothing in the shack itself, except for stray pieces of wood and bits of cloth. Frustrated, Ichigo knelt down to the feverish ex-captain and pulled the first layer of black, dirty, and soaked shihakusho off of him, in hopes of finding a way to dry him off at least a little bit.

But in the empty shack, with a wild storm raging outside, there was next to nothing Ichigo could do. And he couldn't bring him to squad four, he knew anywhere in the Seireitei was out of the question. Ichigo definitely didn't want to leave the boy alone in this state, so he couldn't fetch anyone either. He could bring him into the real world and take care of him there, but, no. Toshiro would kill him if he did that.

With nothing else to do, Ichigo tried to gather all of the stray wood, and checked that it was mostly dry. He didn't have the supplies or knowledge to make a fire, but he had some hope.

Carefully, he went to the small boy and gently shook him. Toshiro now was looking paler, but his trembling had at least seemed to decrease.

"Toshiro... Toshiro, please, I need you to do something, You have to wake up."

The boy was drowsy, but he seemed to respond slightly, turning his head this way and that, and his eyelids faintly moved. With some difficulty, Ichigo managed to get the boy lucid enough to mutter a weak kido through his delirium, and soon the wood made a small, reliable fire. Toshiro fell back into subconsciousness, and Ichigo brought him closer to the fire as the boy slowly warmed up and relaxed, his trembling stopping.

Settling himself, Ichigo waited as hours went by, the storm carrying on outside throughout the entire day and night. He could hear trees snapping, and water leaked into the shack more than once, but Toshiro remained delirious or unconscious the entire time, and the older shinigami could only worry.

* * *

By the time the wind was done howling and the rain had actually lightened up, Ichigo felt like the storm had lasted an eternity. Rousing himself from a light nap, he turned to look at the now sleeping soul reaper. Toshiro's forehead had cooled, and his fever seemed gone. The worst of whatever ailed him seemed to have passed along with the storm.

"Toshiro? Are you awake?"

The boy stirred slightly at the call, and finally managed to open his eyes without much difficulty. He sat up as Ichigo sat back down at the other end of the fire.

"Ichigo..." He clutched his head and winced slightly as he took a look around the room. "Where is this?"

"Just some shack I found. I had to get you out of the rain." Ichigo looked him over as the boy blinked a few times. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Toshiro grimaced, his expression hardening as he looked away and began to test his legs, trying to stand.

Ichigo remained silent for a time, only watching the boy closely. He figured, this time, there really wasn't any point in asking what had happened. He already knew. And he could tell the boy was still shaken by it, and would, customarily, not want to talk about it.

But, all the same, something was still wrong.

"Toshiro."

Now standing, the boy frowned and closed his eyes. He didn't want the lecture, not now.

"Why weren't you ready to defend yourself?"

The boy stopped, slightly startled. That wasn't the question he was expecting.

"You sensed Aizen, right? And you didn't have your zanpaktou, but why were you running? When you thought I was Aizen, you didn't even move to stop or fight me. What the hell?"

Toshiro stood there, unsure and trying to hide his distress.

"You know how much weaker Aizen is now. He's practically nothing. You don't even need a zanpaktou to defeat him. So why, Toshiro? Why are you still so scared of him?"

"I'm not scared of him!" The boy snapped, anger setting in.

"Really? You sure as hell looked scared to me." Ichigo continued, standing. "If it was Aizen who had walked into that clearing then, you wouldn't have lifted a finger to fight him. You were completely frozen in terror."

"You're wrong." the boy resisted, his voice lower. He suddenly seemed to look even smaller than before as he drew into himself silently. "You're wrong... you..."

"Toshiro-"

"You're lucky, Ichigo."

The teen stopped, slightly taken aback. Toshiro turned away from him and stared at the floor, his fist clenched and his voice shaky.

"You're so lucky you can't sense spiritual pressure. When you feel somebody's spiritual pressure, if the emotion is strong enough, you often feel that person's intent... their own emotion, whether it be rage or love or … bloodlust...

"Aizen's pure, unrestrained, sadistic desire to hurt me was just... I couldn't..."

The boy trembled slightly as Ichigo stepped over, and lightly put a hand on the boy's shoulder. He looked sick again.

Ichigo knew it wasn't just Aizen's spiritual pressure. The boy had spent far too long under that man's power, far too many months being tortured at his hand. And now, everything was building up, and it was no wonder the young soul reaper couldn't hold it in.

"Toshiro, you know there's nothing he can do anymore." The substitute soul reaper tried to look at the boy in the eye, but Toshiro's eyes remained cast downward. "He's lost everything. That weapon, his zanpaktou, almost all of his power. Your friends are safe and there's nothing he can do to hurt you anymore. If you would only stop and realize how much stronger than him you are, you could see that you don't have any reason to be afraid of him.

"He can't hurt you, Toshiro, unless you let him."

The boy continued to look away, his expression tight and unreadable. He bit his lip slightly and turned away from the substitute shinigami walking to the now-dry outer layer of his shihakusho and slipping it on.

"You should go home, Ichigo. I'm sure you have things to do and you've stayed too long already."

Ichigo could only look solemnly at the young boy, and sighed.

"Toshiro, I only want to help."

The boy remained silent.

"Fine." Ichigo sighed. He wearily kicked out the fire and made for the door. "I'll come back to check on you soon, okay?"

"I don't need checking on." Toshiro retorted quickly, more out of habit than thought.

Ichigo gave a small smile and stepped through the door.

"Try to take care of yourself, okay?"

Then he was gone, heading back to the world of the living.

Toshiro stared at the burnt out coals of the fire, trying no to think about Ichigo's words.

He knew what he said was true. He had tried to tell himself the same thing over and over again. But his rationale couldn't change his heart, and no matter how he tried he couldn't stop the fear that he felt whenever he thought of his nemesis, or the fact that, deep inside, Toshiro didn't know if he would ever be able to raise his sword against Aizen. The thought of it, even though he had already fought the man once, now made his stomach twist with terror.

As far as he could tell, it was only because, since he first defeated Aizen, he no longer felt the overwhelming hatred towards him. He had gotten past that when he chose to spare his life. But now, the only thing he had left toward Aizen was fear. And that fear was already more than he could handle.

He knew he probably wouldn't be able to fight Aizen, and that irrationality only scared him more.

After more time than Toshiro was able to keep track of, he took his zanpaktou that Ichigo had gotten for him and he left the shack, orienting himself to walk back to his camp by the cave.

As he looked to the morning sky, he froze as he saw a giant plume of smoke rising from the south.

It came from the direction of the nearby village where Akite and the others lived.

**Phew. This seriously took me allll day to write. I'm leaving tomorrow for California and then driving home across the country, so I have so much homework to be doing right now it's ridiculous. But oohhh no, I just had to start rewatching bleach a month or so ago and now get all excited about it, and finish the short manga I was working on, so now I'm all like: "WWHHEEEE FANFICTION!" bbleechhh... I honestly had a lot of fun writing this though. Unfortunately, Toshiro is going to be stuck in a delirious state for much more of the story than I wanted, but, what can you do. He's got issues. … …. poor kid. **

**Anyway, all that doom and stuff explodes next chapter. It's pretty exciting. And terrible. And doom. Soooo much doom. Urrg.**

**So then, I intend to do a lot of writing on this during my 81 hour trip across the country (4,112 miles :) ) so I might have another chapter for you when I return the Sunday after the next. Or not. I could get lazy or lose interest. Who knows. But, i'll try. **

**Until then, I'm off to pack and then play Skyrim until 3 o'clock in the morning, so, I hope enjoyed, please review! Encouragement is appreciated, and as always, thank you VERY much to all my reviewers. I love you all and I'll try to update more regularly :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys, its been over a year... look. Honestly. There's a lot of things I need to say about this story. A lot. And many reasons why I haven't updated in so long. But I don't want to crowd you with that now that I've finally got an update for you. So here's the deal: I started this story near the beginning of freshman year of highschool. I am now a senior and weeks away from graduating, and due to the recent influx of reviews reminding me about this story, I'm going to try to make a commitment to this. As a sort of, I don't know, final momento to my high school experience, I'll do everything in my power to finish this before I leave for college. Now that I picked this up again and started writing narrative for the first time in over a year, my writing style has subconsciously changed a lot (believe me you'll notice), and I'm curious to expand upon it, so I think there's hope I'll actually continue this time. **

**I owe a lot to you guys for sticking around (even to those who don't stick around). So much has changed about me over the course of writing this story, and I'll have a lot to say when I finally finish it. Until then, please read and enjoy:**

**(Also note the first part of this was written shortly after publishing chapter 16, to it does not reflect any change in the way I write.)**

Aizen stood, erect and steady, as he gazed at his handiwork. A smile smile comforted his face. He now felt calmer than he had in a long time.

Smoke billowed around him as the village burned, the fire unaffected by the moist wood. Aizen's tool of destruction, his kido-induced firestorm, burned through every home, every tree, and every person. He relished in the sight of their corpses, in their fading screams, and in their cries for mercy.

It had been too long since he had killed. He had nearly forgotten the amount of power and pride one has when holding someone's life in their hands. It was thrilling.

But still. A bitter smile returned to his face. It wasn't enough.

The boy wasn't in his hands.

Not yet.

Aizen turned to look at the young soul reaper clutching his stomach in pain. Now, his vengeance had begun.

He eyes shot up.

Finally.

_He is here._

* * *

Death. It was everywhere. Toshiro shuddered as he walked by corpses mutilated by its cruel, cold hands.

The village truly had been destroyed. The was hardly a building left standing. Toshiro strode among the rubble and the death in a trance. He could hear the voices; he could imagine their screams, their pleas, their unacknowledged pain, all fallen upon deaf ears. Now the lost cries of these deceased came to him, embraced him, tormented him, clung to him, so desperate to be heard. He listened. He knew.

Still the boy moved forward. Something drew him to the center. He knew what but dared not ask himself. He could only move towards the menace, the evil that awaited him so lustfully. He knew what it was but did not turn away. The past possessed him.

The voices continued to seek solace in his heart. They found none.

There was a fire. It was a great blaze never before seen by the primitive people of the Rukongai. Flames leaped, wood cracked, and corpses disintegrated, producing the putrid, grotesque stench of burning flesh. It was a mountain of death and destruction, raising high above any building, roiling, cracking, and groaning with power.

Fire was the mortal enemy of an ice shinigami. Toshiro stared into the powerful, hungry flames. He used to hate them. Now they seemed lonely. Were they not like him? With no control over their own existence but simply a tool used by the evil for the destruction of others? Fated only to spread and engulf and destroy everything. everything. everything.

Until the will of their master smoulders them to an inevitable death.

As such, the flames cowered when their master appeared from behind them, covered in blood and dripping with pleasure.

The boy stood stock still. Somewhere he was afraid. Something inside of him writhed with fear and rage and pain, but it felt far away. Now the boy was empty. He had no passion, felt no fear; remembered no happiness, felt no pain; embraced no life, feared no death.

There was a wide grin upon the face of the man. It showed teeth gross and yellowed, decayed as was the rest of him. The once pristinely combed hair now fell in a thick, tangled, filthy mess around his head, and his clothes were tattered and stained.

"So we finally meet again, face to face."

The deepest pit of Toshiro's loathing sunk at the sound of the dark voice. The lost voices fled from their murderer.

"You look absolutely awful, my dear boy. When is the last time you slept well?"

The boy stared at the man, empty, lost.

"Ah," The man's face lit up slightly. "Right! I have a present for you!" With a sudden excitement, the man turned and gestured the boy forward, his eyes bright. "Come here!"

Mindlessly, the boy obeyed.

The fire crackled, large yet cowed. It swayed and sputtered, then obediently continued to devour flesh.

There was a boy, almost a man, on the ground. His body was broken, his limbs torn. Not just blood spilled from wounds across his body. He was alive.

That something inside the silver haired boy stirred riotously this time, horror-stricken. But the boy stared at the dying boy silently. Those dark blue eyes said nothing. The past of pain and terror were written across the dying boy's face, but his eyes betrayed his nothingness. Reason had left him. Passion had left him. Love had left him. Even pain left him as nothing but chasm of death opened before his eyes and beckoned him gently forward. But the boy could not answer to that comfort. His master had not allowed it, would not allow it. Pain returned, pain endured, death awaited.

Akite was long dead.

_Akite._

_Dead. _

_Pain. Torture. Death._

_No Akite nonono_

_Akite no AkiteAkiteDeadGonePainPainPainPainPainnono_

_Akite nononononono Akite Akite Justice._

_Torture. Pain. Death. Gone. Gone. _

_why_

_Why whywhywhywhywhywhy justicefriendshopehopehopegonegonewhywhywhywhywhyw hy_

_Aizen_

The flames roared violently. They vengefully escaped from the pile of corpses and freely spread across the entire area, passionately consuming all in its path.

Toshiro spun, his eyes clear and fiery, his sword drawn and furiously speeding for the man's neck. Aizen barely dodged the blade and stumbled backward, his eyes narrowed.

With a roar Toshiro brought Hyourinmaru around and attacked ruthlessly, hatred and rage gleaming in his eyes and in his sword. Aizen produced a short, blunt blade and parried clumsily, continuing to back away.

"You dare fight me?" To man growled, his madness visible. "You dare oppose me?!" Another parry, effective this time, then a vicious counterattack. "You dare fight me?! DON'T YOU KNOW I OWN YOU?! HOW DARE YOU!"

Toshiro swung his sword to meet Aizen's, and forced his weight forward upon it. "You are a monster." He spat, "you are nothing."

Aizen's eyes widened, Toshiro's eyes cleared.

The fire blazed brighter and stronger than ever as it spread across the entire remnants of the village.

Aizen laughed.

"You think you can overcome me? You think you're stronger than me?! You think you can DEFEAT me?!" Aizen cackled, his voice splitting and rising maniacally.

"I already have." Toshiro responded, but his voice quavered. He saw a familiar glint in Aizen's eyes. He felt a familiar fear in his very core. He shuddered and began to withdraw, to finish Aizen quickly with Hyourinmaru.

An explosion of pain erupted from his side. Caught off guard, the boy stumbled, and, out of nowhere, Aizen whirled and sunk his blade anew into Toshiro's abdomen.

_Pain_

_PainPainPainPainPainPainPainStopPainStopStopStopPl easeStopPainPainPainPainStopNo_

Unbeknownst to him, the boy was screaming. Aizen pulled out his blade, relishing the sound, and the boy crumpled, writhing in agony as the blade's kido overcame him.

_PainPAINPAINPAINSTOPSTOPSTOPPLEASEpainpasitopnsain stopsleasepainsaintoppainstop_

"Don't you see?" Aizen's voice was calm and soothing as he bent over the now sobbing soul reaper, placing a hand on the boy's head. "I have complete power over you. You were mine and you will be once again, but this time I will never stop hurting you; never give you a chance to save yourself."

The boy was delirious with pain and shaking uncontrollably with terror. His voice had cracked and he could no longer utter a scream as he gasped for breath, choking on his own vomit. He clutched his wound tightly, as if he could hold in the agony with his hands as he curled into a tight ball. It was like nothing he had ever felt before.

Aizen chuckled heartily.

The fire sputtered and died.

All the boy knew was his agony.

**Urg. I'm mean with these cliffhangers. I realize last chapter was really quite a bad one, and now this one too. Sorry, this was the best place to end it. **

**I hope nobody dislikes anything about the way I'm now writing SO MUCH FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE OMAGOSH because I'm kinda curious about it and am going to explore it further. Weird what happens when you read a lot and don't write for a whole year (not counting essays)... **

**Anyway, please review, the support would be immensely helpful! I love you all, and will try to update soon!**


	18. Final Comment

**Well, howdy. It's been a while, huh. So I figure I owe a final farewell to you all, as at this point, I think it's pretty obvious this story isn't going anywhere anymore. I did try. I made an honest effort to continue it, but I've really grown up since I started writing this, and I can't get myself to write it anymore, there are so many things I now consider… differently. At this point I've finished my first semester of college, which was a wonderful, fun, great experience, and will soon be leaving for my second. While it does make me sad to leave this behind unfinished, it's definitely for the best. I just wanted to finalize this and not leave anyone hanging anymore.**

**And it's true I had great plans for this story. I had the entirety of the rest of it planned out and it was to be wonderful and terrible at the same time. That hasn't changed. Heck, if you're curious enough and want to know what happens, I'll give you a quick version via message if you ask. Otherwise, it's up to your own imaginations. **

**Anywho, I don't imagine I'll probably ever write fanfiction again, but this account will be sticking around so people can still read what I have done. **

**Perhaps more importantly, however, I would be greatly honored if you would venture over to my DeviantArt ( .com) and take a look at what I have been working on instead. These past few years The End of Freedom had become a part of my style of storytelling, and I've had my own original story to write for almost as long as I've had this one. It's taken a long time, but as of today, there is one full chapter published on my dA. Believe me if you liked End of Freedom (still can't get over what a bad title that is) you will love the original I'm writing now. A lot of themes and character concepts are pulled from this and at times they are very similar. Please do me a great favor and give it a try, as that is basically my life right now. **

**Well, it's been fun, my dog is fluffy, and it's time to say goodbye. Thank you so much for sticking with me through this terribly long story and I'm sorry it's coming to an end before it's done. Please take a look at my dA page, and take care yourselves. Have a good one and happy reading!**


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